Raindrop from the Sky
by LoneWolf0729
Summary: That summer was supposed to be like any other she'd spent at the camp. But, boy was she wrong. Now that Zeus's Lightning's been stolen, will she help those who seek to return it to it's rightful owner ,and risk revealing the secret of her parentage, or will she side with the thief and risk having war destroy Olympus? And to think it was supposed to be just a regular summer...
1. Chapter 1

Rain drop From the Sky...

Chapter 1

Merria sighed leaning her head on the window as her mother drove her back to camp. She wasn't sure if it was from the jet lag she was experiencing or the fact that she had to spend another year in this place. Don't get me wrong, the camp was great and she liked it there better than any school she'd gone to so far, but that didn't mean she liked to go to school.

To be honest, she loathed school. The problem wasn't learning, she actually liked that, but the teachers and the other kids there. She had a problem with sitting still for too long so her teachers constantly nagged her about it. It also didn't help that they were so dull, boring and monotonous and she would quickly lose interest in the lessons.

Aside from the teachers who never liked her, the biggest problem were the other students who tended to bully her because of her hair, the fact that she didn't have a father, had attention span problems and could be really jumpy in some situations. The bullying was the real reason she hated going to school.

Nervously, she started fingering the hemline of her navy blue T-shirt with a Pikachu on the front. No matter how old she got, she still loved to watch Pokémon, even had an Umbreon plushy, which was currently safely tucked inside her black backpack. Out of the corner of her eye, Jane, her mom, smiled at her nervousness.

''I'm sure everything will be just fine once we get there, Merri. The cam couldn't have change that much in the last month'', a reassuring look on her face managed to calm Merri's nerves, if only a tad bit.

''That's not the real issue,'' she admitted. '' I'm just worried that the others might start teasing me like kids at school do.'' Merri looked back out the window and saw that they were just close by the camp so she turned back to her mom. '' You can stop right here, I'll walk the rest of the way.''

''Are you sure, sweetie?'' Jane asked while stopping the car. Merri just smiled at her.

''I'm sure, mom. It's not so big of a deal, anyway. The camp is just a 5 minute walk from here, maybe a bit more. Don't worry, I'll be fine,'' she reassured her. She'd walked this road so many times by now that she was sure she knew where every stone, tree and bush stood. In her eyes, there was no reason to panic.

After about 10 minutes of reassuring her mom that she would be perfectly fine going to the camp alone, Merri bid her goodbye, took her sea green suitcase out of the trunk of their car and, without looking back, made her way to the entrance of the camp.

Despite the blazing heat of the August sun, she wore a black leather jacket she got from her Uncle Cole and Aunt Jill for her seventeenth birthday last December.

She also wore dark blue ripped skinny jeans and a pair of her favorite red Converse with neon green laces. On her wrist, there was a golden bronze bracelet she got from her father just after she was born, or so her mom told her, that she never took off. The man may have left them while she was just six months old but that didn't mean she didn't want to have something from him to remember him by.

After her dad left her and her mom, Jane moved back to her parents (they were all still living in Melbourne at that point) and stayed there for about four years. During that time, Jane met an American named Jack Samuels who was living in Melbourne at the time. They started dating and, about two years later, they got married and Merri got a step-father. Not long after, they moved to Seattle with Jack and have been living there ever since.

To Merri, Jack was a nice guy who didn't kiss up to people and who treated her like an adult because he knew she hated being treated like a child. He was never mean to her or tried to rub in the fact her father left her and was great to her mom. And she had to say, the man wasn't hard on the eyes as well.

Despite the fact that her mom and step-dad have been married since Merri was four and a half, Merri never called him 'dad' or anything like that. Her mom asked her about it once, a few years back, and Merri said that it wasn't because she wanted to be disrespectful of Jack, since she really liked him, but because she just can't force herself to call him her father when her real one might be out there somewhere. Merri even apologized to Jack in case he felt offended by this but he just shrugged it off and told her that he doesn't mi d her calling him by his name.

Merri didn't have a big family and she was okay with it, although, there could be about 150 people at the Rafter family reunions. She had her grandparents, Nicholas and Ellen, who still lived in Melbourne and with who she would usually spend at least a month during the summer. Then there was her Uncle Cole, her mom's big brother, his wife, Jill, and their two children, Corey and Sally. They too used to live in Melbourne but moved to Sidney when her uncle got a job offer there.

Trekking through the woods, Merri soon got where she was headed. In front of her stood an arch on which it said 'Camp Half-blood'.

Yes, Merri was a demigod like so many others and she kept it hidden from the world. The only people who knew were her mom, uncle and grandparents. Both Jack and Jill (no pun intended) thought her father was some sort of a Marine or something and that he disappeared on a mission. Merri knew the truth as to not only that her father is a god but also his true identity, something not even her mom knew. Her mom knew her father was a god but she didn't know which one. Merri knew but was warned not to reveal his identity until the right time or she could put herself and her family in danger, so she hid this little piece of information for the last ten years.

Merri had at first attended Camp Half-blood during the summer but started attending if full-time when she turned twelve. She still spent a month or two in the summer with her family and also celebrated birthdays with them.

Due to her solitary personality, Merri didn't have many friends at camp. To be honest, she had none. She usually tended to stay away from people and was a part of the group only when it couldn't be avoided. What can she say; she likes to have her privacy.

Assuming this year would be like all before it, Merri took a deep breath and passed Thalia's barrier thus entering camp grounds. But boy was she wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The first two months back at the camp were completely normal. It was the end of October now; most of the campers were either inside the cabins where it was warm or training outside to keep them warm. Merri just sat on a high tree branch reading her comic book.

She had no desire to spend time with any of the others inside. One time, she had accidentally stayed inside her cabin and fell victim to the ridiculous beauty treatments and gossiping most of the other girls at camp adored. Sure, she liked to get a little pampered like most from time to time but that doesn't mean she is a fan of gossips. For the love of gods, she NEVER EVER wanted to be a part of such a frivolous act of socializing. The last time still haunted her dreams.

From the other side of the camp she could hear sounds of gunshots being fired. It seemed that Luke was playing Call of Duty or whichever shooter game was on the repertoire tonight. On some other nights she would've perhaps even opted on joining him but she just wasn't in the mood for games right now.

Of all the demigods at the camp, Luke was the closest thing she had to a friend. He too was abandoned by his divine father when he was young, but, unlike Merri, Luke held a grudge against the Olympians for not being able to grow up in a real family.

Merri, on the other hand, knew about Zeus' law which forbids all of the gods from contacting their children and completely understood that it was not her father's fault for not being there for her when she was growing up.

If you asked her, the best way to spend a night like this one would be just lying on her bed in her PJs with a fresh batch of popcorn in her lap watching a good movie or reruns of Star Trek. Unfortunately, due to the invasion of the 'Gigglers', she was spending it on a tree. Oh well, that works too.

Merri spent another two or so hours on the tree just listening to the wildlife surrounding the camp lake after she had finished reading her comic. By now, almost all of the campers were deep asleep and she was completely on her own, just like she likes it. With a hidden grin she jumped off the tree landing with grace and made her way toward the pier at the lakeside. Putting her comic aside she took off her black Star Trek zip up hoodie and converse shoes folding the neatly before doing a swan jump in the lake.

Being in the water felt great. Refreshing, to say the least. She could every little movement the surface of the water made. Hear and see almost every living being in the lake. Merri spent about ten minutes gliding through the liquid and, soon enough, there were fishes swimming by her side, doing loops, trying to race her and overall amaze her. She smiled at all of them and joined them in their little games. In one game of hide and seek, she hid swam to the bottom of the lake and hid in the log algae that grew there. Merri felt like a small kid again, giggling so hard it hurt her stomach; playing games and smiling so wide the muscles in her cheeks were straining to keep the grin on.

She wasn't sure when the last time she had so much fun was. Sometimes, on nights like this one, she would go for a jog in the woods or go for a simple swim but she had never done something like this.

It was almost three in the morning when Merri finally said goodbye to her aquatic friends and got out of the water soaked to the bone and grinning like there was no tomorrow. 'I should do this more often', crossed her mind as she scooped up her stuff and stalked her way to her cabin. With every step she made, she left a small puddle on the ground until she was bone dry when she reached the door.

Trying to make no noise, as to not wake her roommates, Merri padded to her bed. She quickly changed into navy blue and red plaid pajama pants and an oversized grey T-shirt with a bulldog's head on the front, brushed out her long messy ginger red hair with black and blonde streaks and snuggled up in her bed, a smile on her face all the time. About five minutes later, she was out like a light dreaming of diving through the depths of the ocean and exploring various coral reefs. Dreams filled with color floating in her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Well, it was official. All the gods were idiots in her mind. How could they think that one of their own would even think of getting their kid to steal the Lightning Bolt? From Zeus himself, no less. Hell, she knew that even Hades wouldn't think of something like that, and it was a well-known fact that he's always been jealous of his brothers.

When she'd first heard of the whole ordeal, she honestly thought it was some stupid joke. Imagine her surprise when she realized it was all true. Not to mention when she found out from some of her roommates that Percy Jackson, the boy accused of stealing the said Bolt, was currently at camp.

Apparently, he'd had a little run in with a Minotaur in front of the Gates which resulted in his mother being sent to Hades. Not good.

All of this had already gotten her in a bad mood but, to top it all off, Chiron told her that there's no way she'd be able to avoid today's game of Capture the Flag.

So here she was, putting her gear on with a deep frown etched on her tanned face. On the rare occasions she actually took part in the game, she would wear some fingerless gloves, gauntlets and shin pads so she wouldn't badly hurt anyone she hit during the game. Last guy she hit without them got two broken ribs and a badly bruised side. Not her fault, the guy kept coming on to her when she was clearly not interested.

''Ooooh, judging by your face I'm extremely grateful you're on my team,'' said Luke's voice from behind her. ''I'm so sorry for the red tem.'' She could hear the smirk in his voice even without actually seeing him.

''I'm not in the mood, Luke,'' she answered fastening the last straps on her gauntlet.

''Oh, I can see you're not in the mood. I'm just trying to rile you up so you can beat those guys up better.'' She turned to him with a blank look and started following him to the grounds tying her long hair in a high ponytail in the process.

''If, I were you,'' she said ''I'd watch my back on the field. Just because I'm on you team doesn't mean I won't hesitate to pummel you into the ground.'' A small smirk appeared on her lips when she saw him slightly pale. 'This is just too easy,' she thought.

Well, on the bright side, it was sunny today. A small drop of positive in her normal daily sea of negativity. What wouldn't she give to be able to climb on a high tree and snuggle up in its branch with a fantastic view and an even better comic-book? She'd been dying to get some free time to read the newest issue of the Avengers she'd managed to get her paws on. The only problem, so far, was that, in the last couple of days she'd been so busy with her training that she could barely manage to drag her sorry ass back to her bed, let alone stay up long enough to actually read the comic. So, it stayed untouched and packed in a box under her bed. Thinking about it now, she'd have to devise some sort of a plan to hide from Chiron in the next few days because, gods know, she will go all ape-shit on the centaur if she couldn't get to read in the next 24 hours min.

Speaking of the centaur, there he was, talking to some guy she was sure she'd never seen at camp before. The guy had to be Percy Jackson. Sure, she didn't usually care for most of the campers and chose to ignore them completely but that didn't mean she didn't know them. Okay, so she definitely couldn't tell you their names or divine parent but at least she knew they were like her and could recognize them in the outside world if she happened to run into them.

''Looks like the new guy will be joining us in the field today,'' Luke said looking him over before turning to face Merri. ''What do you think, Mer? We take him on our team or give him to the reds?''

Merri turned her attention to the new guy, also looking him over, scanning him in order to decide if they should, in fact, take him on their team. The boy seemed to be around their age, maybe two to three years younger. 'No,' she thought. 'More like only two years younger.' Judging by his built he wasn't built so much for strength but speed. That was good; the other team's members were mostly bulky sons of Ares, Crazy strong but slow both in body and mind. Still, she could definitely tell that he'd never even held a sword in his hands until just recently; bad because he would need all the experience he could get if he wanted to help them to beat the reds. They had the daughter of Athena of all, which said enough about how good their team was.

She was just about to say 'no' to Luke, when she gave the boy a better look. That was enough for her to make her final decision.

''I think,'' she said in an emotionless voice,'' we should take him on our team. He seems like he could be of use.'' She crossed he arms in a matter which told Luke not to ask for any other explanation on the matter. Luke nodded and they approached the boy just as Chiron asked if anyone would take him on their team.

''Hi, I'm Luke, son of Hermes,'' Luke, being the more social of the two, introduced himself first shakin the boy's hand. The boy gave them both a smile.

''I'm Percy, son of Poseidon.'' He then proceeded to shake Merri's hand and she gave him a hint of a smile. She may be mean to most people but she decided to try and be nice to this kid. After all, he did just learn he was a demigod and that must've been taking its toll on him still.

'' Name's Merria, but call me Merri. We know who your father is.'' Merri said in a deadpan tone. '' Most of the camp does too.'' And so commenced the slight humiliation of Percy. Totally not her fault. That had Luke written all over it.

About 20 minutes later, they were in positions and were about to start the game. Luke told Percy to stick to him so he wouldn't get knocked out too quickly. That, and the fact that Luke and Merri usually fought in pair also helped save Percy's ass given Merri's natural talent and almost flawless skill with a sword. Luke often told her she might even be the best in the entire camp. Who knows? Maybe she is.

After the game started it didn't take long for the three to get separated. Merri had decided to stay behind and stall some of the members of the red team in order to give Luke and Percy more time to locate the red flag and, hopefully, capture it before they get their own flag captured or fall into one of Chase's traps. Having a child of Athena just complicated things more for the blue team. Good thing she never liked the girl, since beating her always gave Merri a sense of accomplishment.

Engaged in a fight with four sons of Ares, Merri chose to keep her sword sheathed since fighting these guys bare hand was more difficult, more so given the fact they had swords and she wasn't using hers. Dodging left and right, jumping over and under their blades made her muscles burn in a way only a hard workout could make them. With a few well precise and perfectly forceful hits, two of the boys were unconscious, the other two following suit very quickly.

With a smirk on her face, Merri dusted her hands and ran in the direction she last saw Luke and Percy go. She wasn't as worried for Luke as she was for Percy. Luke was a big boy and could very well take care of himself. Percy, on the other hand, was completely new to all of this, not very skilled in the sword department and she doubted he knew how to use his powers to aid himself. This notion only made her legs pump even harder.

Merri found Percy at the riverbank, the red flag in his arms and the other members of the blue team happily cheering for him. Guess she was wrong; the kid could take care of himself. Judging by the girl's face, it was Annabeth herself he faced.

'Not bad, kid,' she thought. 'Not bad at all.'

With a smile she waved to Luke and started walking back to her cabin. 'And now for a hot shower and some well-earned comic-book time


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

And, of course, there was a party thrown later that night. Like she was gonna attend it, hah! No, she wasn't sociable, or likable, enough to try and mingle with the other campers. A hot shower and a comic-book, all she ever needed. No matter how much Luke begged her to come, she wasn't going to bend. 'Let them party all they want! All I need is a little peace and quiet,' she would say.

Merri was sitting up on her branch, like always, reading. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't a comic she was reading but rather a book. Not just any book, of course, she had taste in literature. She was reading Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, the book was just so good she hadn't had the heart to leave it back home. Her mane of hair was still wet from her shower since she decided to leave it to dry naturally, a decision she knew she would most likely regret later on when it starts to curl messily.

From her vantage point, she could both see and hear the party going and it sounded like the others were having really good time. That is until an unexpected guest appeared...

Hades... 'Why, of all the gods, did it have to be Hades?' the question repeating itself in her mind like a broker record. It was beginning to grate on her nerves, to be honest. But still, she would've expected some of the lesser gods to come and request the Lightning, but why did it have to be Hades? Actually, now that she thought about it, it should've been more surprising how long it took him to make an appearance in the first place. Nevermind, she will have to think about it later. Now, she had more pressing issues to take care of. Like, making sure that Percy doesn't get himself killed 'cause she was 100% sure he would be trying to get his mother back one way or another. At least, that's what she would do.

''What's with the bag?'' Luke asked her without breaking eye contact with the video-game he was playing as she strolled into his cabin. She had already gone back to her own cabin and packed her bag so she could go with Percy and help him, whether he wants it or not. She also changed her clothes and now wore a black T-shirt with 'Keep calm and join the Dark Side' written on it along with a small Darth Vader helmet above the letters, a pair of black cargo pants, her converse and a red plaid hoodie jacket tied around her waist. Sometimes Luke knew her to well, but she would never admit it out loud.

''The new kid's gonna come asking for your help in getting to the Underworld, so I thought I'd tag along and make sure he doesn't get himself killed,'' she said taking a seat next to him, her ,now curled up, hair partly hanging over her eyes and covering her face. Luke just smirked at her response.

''You know,'' he teased. ''If I didn't know better I'd say you actually care for what happens to the boy.'' She just shrugged.

Merri could hear them coming long before they announced themselves. She was surprised to see Annabeth with Percy and Grover but she wouldn't argue since she knew how much of a great fighter the girl was. Luke, however, didn't look up from his game even when Annabeth spoke to him. She swore the guy was a total game junky.

''Hey guys,'' he said after glancing at them while Merri simply waved at them. ''Percy, figured you'd stop by sooner or later'' 'Idiot! I told you they were coming myself,' Merri thought. ''Everybody does. Get away from all that... renaissance fair stuff out there, you know. '' Luke paused his game and got up. ''But, uh... Welcome to the modern world.''

The sentence did have sense since Luke's cabin had more modern tech in it than the entirety of the camp combined. Grover was looking it all over with an approving expression on his face muttering to himself.

''What are you guys up to?'' Luke asked. Without surprise, it was Percy who answered.

''We're going to get my mom back.''

''Your dad is the messenger of gods,'' Annabeth continued. ''One of the only ones who's gotten in and out of the Underworld. Do you've any idea how?'' Merri looked at Luke to see him actually thinking about it.

''My dad's a jerk. I've never met him.'' She could see the slightly haunted look in his eyes. It bothered him as much as it would any kid without a parent. She knew well enough what it's like to never know your father. Percy, though, seemed a little surprised about this piece of information.

''You too?'' he asked.

Merri scoffed. ''Welcome to the club, kid,'' she said. Luke simply shrugged.

''Guess we all got 'daddy issues', huh? That's because all gods are the same: selfish. They only care about themselves. But I once broke into my dad's house, got some cool stuff.''

Luke showed them a dusty old shoebox. Merri could remember the day she had first seen that box, like ti was yesterday. It was also the day Luke showed her how to fly with the shoes that were in that box. It was probably the most fun she'd ever had in her life, even if she managed to break her right arm when she crash-landed. She smirked at the astounded looks on the gang's faces when Percy opened the box and one of the shoes started hovering in front of them. Luke went on to explain.

''My dad's. He's got hundreds of these little guys. Won't even miss him. Look underneath the other one,'' he instructed Percy who then took out a map to the Underworld. ''You see, people have gone to the Underworld before without having to be dead. Hercules did it. Orpheus did it. My dad does it all the time. Getting in is the easy part. Getting out, now that's a little tricky. This is a map to Persephone's pearls,'' He pointed at the map.

''Persephone?'' Percy asked. ''You mean Hades' wife?''

''Yeah, he forced her to marry him,'' Annabeth answered. ''He keeps her prisoner.''

''Needless to say she hates it there,'' Merri said in a deadpan tone. ''The place is hot, he's a weirdo... So, she has...''

''Secret visitors,'' Luke finished. ''She's hidden pearls for them all over the world. The pearls, they provide a quick escape from the Underworld. You could use them to get out.''

''So, how do the pearls work?'' Grover asked.

''Easy,'' Merri answered. ''You take a pearl, step on it and crush it, visualize where you wanna be taken. Right now there's three pearls in the United States.''

''This map will guide you there, alright.'' Luke started pointing on the map: ''Here, there's your first location.''

''Aunty Em's Garden Emporium, huh?'' Grover read.

''Once you find the first pearl, the map will show you the next one, and the next one, and then you're off to Hades.''

''One thing though,''Merri started. ''I'll be coming with you guys.'' The answer form them was unanimous.

''WHAT!?''

She proceeded to explain herself: '' I'll only be coming to make sure you get the pearls and go into Hades in one piece. There's no knowing what's waiting for you out there. I won't be able to come into Hades with you but I will be waiting for you at the entrance to Olympus when you get out.''

Reluctantly, they agreed to let her come with them. All the while Luke stood, watching them with an amused look on his face which Merri found very suspicious. ''Which reminds me,'' he started while giving Percy his shield. ''You might need some extra protection. My favorite shield. You might wanna take a step back,'' he instructed Annabeth and Grover as Percy put the shield on his arm. A small 'Woah' escaped Grover as the shield opened to its full size.

''Thanks Luke'' Percy said with a smile.

''Don't mention it. But, I... You're gonna have to promise me one thing.'' They all looked at him with expectant looks on their faces. ''You see my dad on the highway to hell... Kick his ass for me,'' he said with a smile.

Merri then rose from her seat, taking her bag, and hugged Luke. She wasn't usually one for hugging but she had her moments and there was a possibility of her dying in the near future, so she went against herself and hugged him. He was, after all, her best and only friend here.

''Don't do anything stupid 'till I get back, 'kay?'' she teased. They said their goodbyes and she left the cabin with Percy, Grover and Annabeth. Still, something continued to plague her mind but she wasn't sure what it was. Nevermind, she didn't have time to dwell on that.

-~-ARITS-~-

They took the bus to the first pearl. It probably would've been a quiet ride if the others weren't so interested in her. Since she never really socialized with anyone, besides Luke, none of them really knew anything about her. And so they took it upon themselves to question her all the way long. After about 5 minutes it strated to feel like she was being interrogated for a murder investigation.

''So Merri,'' Percy asked ''where are you from?''

Staring out the window she answered:'' I'm from Seattle.''

''Really? You don't sound like you're from there. More like you're from Australia or something.''

She didn't know why, but she felt like she could trust him so she had no problem answering his questions. ''I was actually born in Melbourne but I moved to Seattle when my mom remarried when I was four. I still have the accent because I spend every summer with my grandparents back there.'' She absently started to fiddle with her bracelet, the only thing she had from her real father, as she thought of that. ''My step-dad's name is Jack'' She continued. '' He's a PR manager in some firm and his job requires a lot of traveling and that's how he and my mom met. He's been really good to us both and has never had a problem with me not calling him 'dad'.''

It was the longest answer she gave to them until the end of the ride. A ride she was all too happy to get off from since they had somehow gotten the idea that she had a crush on Luke. 'Like that would ever happen' she told herself.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The end of the bus ride went like this: Percy and Annabeth were flirting non-stop (though, they would most definitely deny the whole thing), Merri was listening to some music on her iPod (AC/DCs 'Highway to hell' when they were getting of the bus) and Grover was munching on some Pringles Merri gave him to shut him up. She had nothing against talking but Grover was going on like it was in his job description. She was all too happy when the ride was over.

It didn't take them as long as they thought it would to find 'Aunty Em's Garden Emporium', a couple of hours at most.

''This place definitely needs an extreme makeover,'' said Grover when they got there.

Merri couldn't agree more with him in that moment. There were stone statues of all sizes and shapes around the building and, it seemed, inside as well. The statues seemed very unnerving to her, like there was something bad in the air. Against her instinct, she went in after them as Percy called, ''Hellooooooouh!''

Grover was next. ''Hello?!'' he called. ''Anybody home in Aunty Ville?!''

Aaaand, of course, the first thing they all notice is the fudge. 'Typical.' Merri thought. She was looking around to make sure nothing would surprise them or something. The inside of thiat place looked no less creepy to her than its outside. In fact, it was even creepier, if that was even possible. The only good thing she could see were the fountains which meant there was water here somewhere.

''I don't know about you guys but I'm getting a strange vibe from this place,'' she said as she turned back to face them with her right hand holding the strap of her bag on her shoulder, her hair falling over the said shoulder in a braid she made on the bus. It was more practical, she convinced them when they asked her why she didn't leave her hair down.

Just as she had finished her sentence Grover and Annabeth opened the fridge to find it filled with rats which caused them both to yelp, though Grover more Squeaked like a little girl.

''See?'' she said with a smug look on her face. ''I never knew you were so much in tone with your feminine side, Grover,'' she teased earning herself a sarcastic 'Ha, ha, very funny'.

Grover then pointed to the fridge. ''Now that's nasty. The health department needs to give this place an F,'' he exclaimed as he wiped his hand on his jacket.

The heard Annabeth calling them from the other room. ''Look at this,'' she said pointing to the bronzed fountain next to which she was standing. There was water in it as well as some coins. Merri picked one up to examine to examine ti closer, then seeing that those were no ordinary coins, but rather drachmas. Annabeth herself took out a fistful and showing it to the boys.

''Nice!''

''Those are gold drachmas,'' Merri explained to Percy returning the one she held into the water as he stared at those in Annabeth's hand. ''And as much as I hate to admit it,'' she said ''we're on the right track.''

Annabeth gave the drachmas she was holding to Percy before turning to the elder girl. ''How are we gonna find the pearl in this place?''

''It's a good question,'' Grover commented.

''Okay, let's split up guys,'' Percy suggested ''Check everything.'' Grover and Annabeth nodded and already started their own way.

''Good idea,'' they said.

''Bad idea,'' Merri said stopping them all in their tracks.

''What do you mean 'Bad idea'?'' Percy asked her with a confused expression.

She started explaining without taking her eyes of their surroundings, a feeling something might jump out of the smallest shadow and attack them still present in her chest. ''Look, I'm getting a really weird feeling about this place. Something's in here and its old and dangerous, so that's why I think splitting up is a bad idea. I admit, it would save us the time but it would also leave our backs unprotected. So my suggestion is that, if we really have to split up, at least go in pairs, that way the chances of us getting surprise-attacked are smaller.''

...

They still split up into three groups: Percy and Merri went each by themselves while Annabeth ended up paired up with Grover. Both Percy and Merri claimed it was for their own protection. When the two tried to argue, Percy explained that he could heal himself if need arise and Merri was older than them meaning she probably had more experience in dealing with quests than them, a claim Merri backed given that it was true.

And so, Merri was wandering around alone and looking around for the pearl. She had a feeling, though, that the pearl wouldn't be hidden in an easily accessible place or somewhere obvious. She sure as hell wouldn't admit it but the place was giving her the chills. The statues just looked too real in her opinion.

All of the sudden, a hysterical woman grabbed her shoulder.

''She's coming!'' Merri looked at her with a furrowed brow, keeping one's composure was vital when dealing with people who are hysterical or in shock.

''Who's coming?''

''We stopped,'' the woman sobbed ''to stop for directions, my poor husband!''

''What are you talking about?'' Merri questioned. The woman started pulling her in the direction from which Merri just came.

''Help me! Please, help me!'' the woman sobbed as she pulled her. In the background, Merri heard Grover calling their names.

''We're in trouble!'' 'I told them there was something wrong with this place,' she thought as she continued to be pulled by the hysterical sobbing woman.

''Please, we need to leave before she finds us!'' the woman said. ''She turned my husband to stone!''

'It can't be who I think it is!' Merri thought. The only logical explanation would be one of the Gorgons, namely Medusa, but no one had heard of them in eons.

''We're lost! We'll never leave!'' the woman yelled. She suddenly stopped in her tracks. In front of them stood a woman in black with dark sunglasses and a turban on her head.

''Don't move,'' Merri told the woman as she placed her behind herself as to protect her before turning to the woman in black with a glare.

''Well this is a fabulous surprise.'' Medusa's voice sent chills down her spine but Merri ignored them in an attempt to be braver than she was. She hadn't faced a monster in years and her last battle with one almost cost her grandfather's life. She was only seven and it was on that day that she had discovered she is a demigoddess and it was that day that she had decided to hide her father's identity for as long as she can.

''It's so heartening to have such young visitors,'' Medusa hissed. ''We get so lonely here. Don't we?'' The question may have seemed rhetorical but Merri knew better. She could hear the hiss of her snake-hair hidden under the turban she wore. ''That's why I create my statues, they're my only company.''

''You deserve no company, Medusa,'' Merri hissed back.

''Well, it is certainly nice to see I am recognized by children, daughter of Poseidon!''

''What do you want, snake?!''

Medusa approached her, taking one of the loose strands that had fallen out of her braid while the woman was pulling her. ''You have such beautiful hair.'' The said strand was about the width of two fingers and was ginger with both some black and golden blonde in it. ''I once had hair like that, I was courted,'' Medusa started to circle them. ''Desired by many suitors but that all changed because of Athena, the woman who cursed me,'' Medusa started to take off her turban. ''The woman who turned me into THIS!'' She took it off, her snake hair free.

At the same time Merri slamed her eyes shut and told the woman behind her to do the same so they wouldn't be turned into stone.

''They say the eyes are the window to the soul. I hope you'll find my eyes attractive.''

For as long as she could remember Merri had hated the dark, it was cold and she never felt safe in it. The only reason why she liked the night was for the moon and the stars that shined on their black canvas. She was glad that she could still hear where Medusa was due to the hissing of her hair, which gave her at least some sense of orientation.

''It's so rude not looking people in the eyes. Come on, sneak a peek.''

Suddenly, the woman's grip on her arm turned vicelike and Merri knew then that the woman had not been able to resist the temptation of looking. She was turned to stone just like her husband had been. Merri felt sorry for them but she had both her and her companion's lives to protect and, right now, she had to do anything in her power to stall Medusa for as long as she could in hopes of giving Percy, Annabeth and Grover a chance to get away even if it cost Merri her life.

''You'll make a wonderful addition to my colection.''

''Funny,'' Merri scoffed ''I'd always thought I was unique and not a part of a set.''

''You'll be friends forever,'' Medusa hissed right into her ear.

''No thanks, I already have enough friends.'' In her head, Merri prayed to whoever was out there that the others have found a way out and wee somewhere safe.

Merri felt slight tugging on her braid and it being untied and let to flow down her back, shoulders and over her face. She felt something moving the hair out of her face before she hears Medusa hissing in her ear: ''Sooner or later, you'll open your eyes. Tempted?''

Merri merely raised an eyebrow. ''Not really.''

''The temptation to look is too hard to resist.''

From somewhere Merri heard Percy shout at her: ''Don't look, Merri! Don't open your eyes!''

A wave of panic coursed through her. 'They are still here! Why are they still here?! They should've left the moment they realized Medusa was here! What are they thinking?! She will turn them to stone!'

''Who's that?'' Medusa hissed. Merri was seriously starting to wonder if all she could do was hiss instead of speak normally. ''Another demigod?'' The hissing could be heard farther away meaning Medusa was chasing after Percy. Merri dared to crack open her eyes and saw that Medusa was nowhere near. Hurriedly, she wretched her arm free from the statue's grasp.

Grover and Annabeth showed up, both gasping for breath.

''Are you alright?'' Annabeth grasped her shoulder.

''Yeah, I'm fine but Percy won't be if we soon don't do something. Here,'' she gave her bag to Annabeth ''take this and go outside. I'll go after Medusa and help Percy. '' She turned and started when she was stopped by Grover's hand gripping her wrist.

''And what about you?''

Merri shook her head. ''I'm not important; I'm just a stranger tagging along to you. You two, on the other hand, are important in this quest and Percy will need you both to free his mother and sort this mess out so I need you two to remain safe, alright?'' Begrudgingly, they both agreed and went in the direction they believed would take them outside. When they left Merri cracked her neck and fingers. ''And now, to hunt ourselves a snake.''

Jogging through the maze of plants and statues, she listened intently for the familiar sound of snake hissing. While she was running, she turned her celestial bronze charm bracelet into its sword mode. In this form the blade looked like a cross between a katana and a rapier with its special blade and handle shape. Merri came to an abrupt stop once she was able to hear Medusa. It seemed that she has managed to catch up to Percy.

''I hear you have the Lightning Bolt. May I see it?''

Merri used her blade to look around the corners and saw that Medusa was holding Percy by the collar of his jacket, her snake-hair hissing violently.

''I don't have it!'' Percy insisted. His eyes were tightly shut and Merri could only pray he could keep them that way until she came up with something to help him out of this mess.

''Let me see your eyes,'' Medusa tried to lure him in. ''I hear they are bluer than the Circassian Sea! Open them, or my hungry babies will have to open them for you. But it would be such a pity to destroy such a young, handsome face. Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look.'' It seemed Medusa's hissing had come to have some effect because Percy suddenly relaxed his face and turned to face her. It seemed he was going to open his eyes!

''Oh no,'' Merri whispered before shouting from her hiding place: ''Don't listen to her Percy! Don't open your eyes!'' She could see Medusa's head snap in the general direction of her voice.

A loud noise erupted from around them and then the red pickup truck they saw outside burst inside sending debris of crushed statues and fountains all around, some parts even hitting Medusa separating her from Percy and sending her to the floor. At the wheel, Merri could see a terrified Annabeth with her eyes shut and an equally scared Grover on the passenger seat.

''Are you okay?'' Annabeth asked him to what he replied with an excited voice: ''Wooh, yeah, I'm okay!''

Merri shook her head at the two younger teens before rushing to Percy's side but he was nowhere to be seen. Medusa was getting up, he furious eyes and snake-hair scanning for any trace of them.

''Children of Poseidon,'' she hissed before finding Percy's cellphone in the dirt. When she got up to examine it further, Percy stalked up behind her while she wasn't looking and decapitated her.

''Heads up,'' he said and swung his sword as her head fell onto the ground with her snake-hair still moving around. ''Hey guys,'' he called to Annabeth and Grover as he banged on the hood of the pickup they were coming out. Merri, too, came out of her hiding place and fastening her bracelet back on her wrist after she returned it to that form.

Grover had a huge grin plastered on his face. ''Annabeth, that was great, great demigod driving!'' They fist-bumped as she smiled.

Percy turned to Merri with a confused look and said as he gestured to Medusa: ''Before I killed her she called us 'children of Poseidon'. You have anything you want to explain to us?'' Both Annabeth and Grover stopped smiling and turned to her with their own looks of confusion.

Knowing she had nowhere to run form this and that they would find out sooner or later she sighed and looked them all in the eye with her own sea-green eyes, the exact same shade as Percy's. ''She called you and me children of Poseidon because we are them. She called us that because we have the same father.'' She even managed to surprise herself with how calm she was. To be honest, she had half expected herself be so nervous that she wouldn't be able to talk, but here she was telling them the very identity of her father, a secret she'd been hiding for the last eleven years.

''Wait a second!'' Grover yelled before pointing a finger at Merri. ''You too are Poseidon's kid?!''

She nodded. ''Yeah. But look, we don't have time for my explanations. We need to get find the pearl and get out of here .Time is slowly running out and we need to free Percy's mom from Hades and go to Olympus to convince Zeus that Percy didn't steal the Bolt. I'll explain everything once we got to someplace safe tonight.'' She gestured to Medusa's severed head. ''We should probably take the head with us as well, it could come in hand.''

''The head?'' It seemed that they had managed to recover from the slight shock and Grover was simply disgusted at Merri's suggestion to bring the head. ''Naw men, that's sick!''

''If you open the eyes, they still work, dead or alive,'' Annabeth explained. ''You never know when something like that might come in handy.''

''Yeah, you're right. But I'm not touching it.''

''Just take off you jacket, man,'' Percy told him. ''We'll wrap it up when we get some ice.''

Grover gave him a killing look. ''Why do I gotta take off my jacket?''

''Because you're the protector.'' The deadpan tone that Percy used and the look that Grover gave him almost got Merri laughing but she managed to keep her posture and stoic look on her face.

''Yeah, you're right. I am the protector,'' Grover agreed taking off his jacket and continuing ''so I'm gonna give you my hoodie, not my jacket! Okay?''

Grover gave the hoodie to Percy who proceeded to wrap the head in it and throw it into Grover's waiting hands who kept complaining about it all being disgusting all the while. 'Such a baby,' Merri thought as she rolled her sea-green eyes at the junior protector. Something shiny from Medusa's corpse caught her eye at the same time as Percy said, ''Hey guys,'' gesturing at the golden bracelet with a large shining green pearl on Medusa's wrist that poked from the sleeve of her black leather coat. ''One down, two to go.''

Merri turned to Annabeth. ''Hey, could you tell me where you put my bag?''

The girl nodded. ''Yeah, I put it in the truck.'' She gestured towadrs the black bag in the middle of the front seat.

Merri nodded and smiled at the younger girl. ''Thanks.'' She took the bag and opened it rummaging for her wallet. Grover noticed her almost frantic search.

''What're you looking for in there?''

''I'm looking for my wallet,'' she answered with a concentrated furrow of her brow. The younger teens exchanged looks of confusion. ''My driver's license is in there,'' Merri explained ''I'm not sure about you but I'm the only, call it, 'adult' here so I'm responsible for you and I'm absolutely positive none of you can drive a car.''

Once she found the said license, they all cramped up in the front seat with Merri behind the wheel and drove away from Medusa's lair. They'd been driving for about an hour, the sun was already starting to set, in search for a motel or somewhere else they could spend the night when Annabeth started up the conversation while holding the pearl and examining it.

''Would've been nice if Luke had warned us about Medusa,'' she said. Merri didn't like her implying tone; she made it look like Luke was trying to set them up or something. He was Merri's friend; she knew he would never do something like that to her or any of the others.

''Maybe he just didn't know,'' Merri and Percy said at the same time. Grover gave them both and excited look.

''Now I'm definitely sure you two are related. You're already finishing each other's sentences!''

Percy frowned as he looked at Merri from his seat. ''You never really told us how we have the same dad. I was told I was Poseidon's only living demigod kid at the time. Why didn't Chiron tell me I had an older sister?''

Merri kept her eyes focused on the road. ''He didn't tell you because he didn't know. Nobody did. Not even my mom knows my dad's true identity. Like I told you earlier, I'll explain it all once we've found a safe place to spend the night.''

Grover decided to turn the matter on another subject. ''Okay, GPS for the gods, where to next?''

Percy pulled the map from his bag under his legs. The truck's cabin was a quite tight fit but there was nothing they could do about it. ''Let's see...'' Annabeth and Grover leaned over to better see the destination on the map. ''The Parthenon in Nashville?'' Percy said while looking at the map.

Grover got an annoyed look on his face. ''Nashville? Oh, great,'' he said with a sarcastic tone. ''Home of my least favorite music!''

''Yeehaw,'' Merri added. She hated country music as well.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Merri could feel the exertion of the last few days build up and make her more tired than she should've been. She could bet there wasn't an inch of her body that didn't hurt right now. Her leg had fallen asleep about two or three times since they'd left Medusa's lair and whenever it did, Merri would have to pull over to walk a little to get some feeling back into it less she risks getting her and the others into a serious accident. She glanced over her left shoulder at the younger demigods and satyr to find them all three fast asleep. Percy was squashed into the truck door with his head leaned on the window in a strange angle, Annabeth was curled up into Percy's side which made the two demigods adorable and Grover was leaned back in his seat with his head tilted back, his mouth wide open and was snoring so loud Merri thought he could probably wake the dead with all the noise he was making.

She soon pulled over at some random motel when she felt her eyes slowly refusing to cooperate and shook her passengers awake. Annabeth and Percy were easy to wake but Grover was a whole other story so she came up with what she considered a brilliant idea: she clamped his mouth shut and pinched his nose. They only had to wait about thirty seconds to get their results. It was only thanks to Merri's fast reflexes that she didn't get hit by Grover's flailing arms when he woke so forcefully that he jumped up in his seat and banged his head on the roof of the truck. They were all laughing so hard at the satyr that they made him blush a colour of a ripe tomato. ''Don't ever do that again,'' he 'threatened' Merri to which she gave another small giggle. ''No promises!''

Grabbing their stuff they came into the lobby and Merri paid for a room for the four of them. The room itself was nothing particularly special. There was a bathroom, two beds with their respective nightstands, a dresser and a small TV perched on it. Considering there were only two beds and four of them, they would have to either share the beds or someone would have to sleep on the floor. Merri silently decided that she would be the one to sleep on the floor. 'No need to take the bed from them, they need their rest more than I do,' she thought.

Dumping her bag at the foot of one of the beds, she grabbed some clean clothes from it and proceeded to the bathroom. ''I'm just going to grab a quick shower,'' she said to them.

The water felt rejuvenating on her skin and she could already fell some of her lost energy return by just touching the water. The bruise on her writs that she got when the hysterical woman grabbed her healed alongside many small scrapes that littered her back from the training at camp that she did before she left with her half-brother and the crew given that she hadn't had the time to take a proper shower for them to heal. She was almost horrified at the murky brown colour of the water as it drained off her body. It still felt weird to think of Percy as her half-brother but she figured that she'd just have to get used to it. After all, she already had two half-siblings albeit mortal.

Finishing her shower, she put on a pair of black shorts and an oversized grey T-shirt with a sea green smiley face on the front. Merri carefully pulled all the water from her hair as fast as she could all the while making sure that her hair wouldn't curl. She never really liked her hair when it curled. Sure, it seemed shorter and lighter but it was too bouncy and hard to keep in control, especially when she was training her dancing, skating, gymnastics, sword fighting, anything really... So she preferred her hair to be straight.

Just as Merri stepped out of the bathroom, she saw the TV on and heard Grover calling Percy and Annabeth back upstairs. As it turned out, Percy had ended up on the news. His weird walrus-looking step-father had reported him missing and claimed that Percy was drinking and doing drugs AND that Percy had kidnapped his mother. They didn't get to see the rest of the news because Percy turned the TV off with a: ''Shut up, Gabe!''

''Great, now I'm a fugitive!'' Percy exclaimed irritably.

''See, that's what I'm talking about man,'' Grover said while chewing on a can of Fanta? ''Gabe's always running his mouth man.''

Merri turned after Grover and pointed at the half eaten can in his hand. ''That better not have come from my bag, mate.'' Grover proceeded to pale before turning a bright shade of scarlet. He just turned around, continuing his rant while going to the bathroom.

''He's just mad that I busted 'im up with my crutches.'' Merri smirked at his retreating back before turning to Percy and Annabeth raising her hand and counting down with her fingers. At the count of zero they heard: ''OH, nice!'' Grover came out of the bathroom holding Medusa's head by her snakes. The head now sported sunglasses so that it wouldn't stone someone by accident. ''I can't pee with her watching me!''

It took everything for Merri not to burst out laughing at Grover's face but they all turned around to see the cleaning lady stop by the window and scream in horror at the sight of Grover holding a severed head who promptly dropped it on the floor as the woman ran away screaming. Annabeth quickly got up and closed the curtains. They all turned to Grover who had a shocked expression on his face. ''Sorry, guys. I messed up,'' he said remorsefully. ''I should've closed the curtains.''

Percy gave an exasperated sigh and Merri just shook her head at the satyr as Annabeth said: ''Come on guys, let's hit the road before homeland security shows up.''

They all quickly started packing their bags to continue the trip or at least find a new place to stay the night with Grover apologising all the while.

''It's okay, mate,'' Merri assured him for the umpteenth time as they were taking their seats in the truck. ''It could've happened to anyone!'' She sat back behind the wheel after she hurriedly slipped on her converse so she wouldn't drive barefooted. It wouldn't have bothered her but it would've been weird if they had to stop at the gas-station and got out. Her bare feet surely would've attracted a whole lot of unwanted looks.

The start of the ride was mostly quiet after they had gotten Grover to stop apologising( Merri threatened to pull over at the side and dump his sorry ass to walk the rest of the way if he didn't) until Percy got tired of the silence and started up a conversation.

''You know, you never told us how you learned who dad was, Merri. I mean, you promised to tell us in the motel but you never got the chance.'' The puppy eye look he was giving her melted her inside given how green his eyes were and she gave a sigh knowing there was no way for her to pull herself out of this one.

''Well,'' she nervously started ''It's not really the happiest story there is but alright, I'll tell you.'' She cleared her throat while the others looked at her with expectant faces. ''I was about six or seven, I can't remember correctly, and I was with at my grandparent's for the summer. Grandpa and I went out for a walk around the block like we normally did and were going to get some ice-cream for me. Anyhow, we were passing by the pond in the park we were in when we were stopped by this weird lady in a leather jacket. She was talking some nonsense for a while before she turned to me. I got this really bad vibe from her and I remember something in me practically screaming to get the hell away from her, she started talking to me about my eyes, how she's never seen such green eyes and how she knew someone with eyes like that. Before I could say anything she attacked grandpa and I, showing her true form to be a Fury. Grandpa tried to fight her off but she was too strong for him and she kept flinging him to the pavement and the trees. I remember, one time I heard this sickening crack from him; it's just something I'll never forget. She... she broke his spine in two places and crippled him. She went directly after me then and there was this male voice in my head telling me to be brave, that everything was going to be alright. As she got closer I felt this tugging in my stomach telling me to get near the water. I remember running to the pond and this big wave crashing on her and after that everything was blank. Later on, when we were in the hospital, grandpa told me that I attacked the Fury with wave after wave of water before I took out my sword and stabbed her sending her to the Underworld. When I told him about the voice in my head, he told me it was my dad telling me what to do and told me everything about this world. A couple of weeks later, he got mum to send me to Camp Half-Blood and I've been going there ever since.'' Finishing her story, she looked to see their reactions. Annabeth and Grover were both slightly pale while Percy's mouth was agape.

''You were six when you were attacked by a Fury? And you managed to defeat her?!'' Percy exclaimed when he got a hold of himself.

''Exactly what I said.''

With a frown on her face, Annabeth asked: ''Wait, you said your grandfather explained everything about our world to you? How is that possible?''

Merri looked at her with a tiny smirk gracing her lips. ''It's possible because he is a demigod, a son of Hephaestus, actually.''

''WHAT!?''


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"So, your grandpa is a demigod?" Percy asked to what Merri nodded while keeping her sea green eyes on the road.

"And so is your grandma but your mom isn't one?" Grover asked and she nodded again.

"And your dad is Poseidon?" Annabeth asked.

Merri smirked. "Exactly what I said earlier. My grandpa is a son of Hephaestus, my grandma is a daughter of Apollo and my mum is completely human. So is my step-dad and my step-siblings. The only thing that could make you suspect my mum of not being human would be her cooking. Trust me, you do NOT want that woman cooking for you."

Annabeth frowned in confusion. "Why not?"

"Well, unless you're dying to get food poisoning there's nothing wrong with my mum cooking. I swear, one time I saw her burn water!"

"How'd she manage to do that?" Percy asked.

Merri shrugged. "My guess is as good as yours." She gave a big yawn and blinked her eyes a couple times to make them stay open. "We need to stop somewhere to rest," she said. "I'm exhausted and don't know how long I can keep up with the driving and I sure as hell am NOT letting any of you kids to drive."

Annabeth checked on the map they had found in the glove compartment a few hours ago and pointed to a small icon on it. "There's a motel not far from here. About ten more minutes of driving, I'd say."

Merri nodded her head, wisps of her ginger hair falling on her face. "Alright kiddies, it seems like we'll be stopping to grab some shuteye in no time.

...

True to Annabeth's word, they arrived to a motel in precisely ten minutes. Getting out of the truck, they all grabbed their bags and made their way to the front desk. Percy approached the manager.

"We need a room," he said. The manager gave him an odd look.

"You got an I.D.?" Percy started digging through his bag, probably looking for some money to bribe the man, while the manager stared them all down suspiciously. Letting out a sigh, Merri came to stand at Percy's side and gave the man her I.D. The manager looked at her I.D. for a few seconds before lifting his gaze and comparing Merri to the picture.

"The spittin' image," the manager said. Merri smiled at him, paying for the room and taking the key the man gave her.

They entered room 6 to find a small, musty, old room with only one queen size bed. Sometime between Merri getting the room for them and them getting to the room, Grover managed to raid a vending machine and now, his pockets were full of different snacks.

"Only one bed," Annabeth noted to what Merri sarcastically thought: 'Thank you, Captain Obvious!'

Merri dropped her bag on the floor near the foot of the bed and sat down, taking her shoes off and throwing them next to the door where they landed perfectly.

"I'll sleep on the chair," Grover offered. He dumped out a pile of snacks from his pockets on the bed, plopped himself down on a chair, turned on the TV and started eating a Snickers bar, wrapper and all making Merri giggle silently at the young satyr. When she noticed he'd gone to the Adult Movie Pay Channels, she grabbed the remote and promptly turned off the TV, earning herself a glare from Grover.

"What?! I can't watch a movie?!" Grover practically screeched at her. Merri returned his glare with one of her own famous 'don't even think about it or I'll castrate you right here, right now' glares that sent even the bravest of campers miles away from her. Seeing her glare, Grover quietly whimpered and looked at his feet while continuing to eat his Snickers and trying to make as little noise as possible so that the ginger haired demigoddess' silent threat wouldn't come true.

Percy grabbed a Snickers, sat on the bed and looked at Annabeth. "Pretty big bed. Maybe we could -"

Annabeth cut him off by throwing a pillow on him. "You'd make your sister sleep on the floor?" she asked him.

"N-no, o-of course n-not..." Percy stammered.

Annabeth arched an eyebrow at him. "Floor or bathtub. Your call."

Sighing, Percy stood up and made for the door. "I'll go get some ice for the head," he said before disappearing outside.

Sometime later, Percy and Merri had filled the sink in the bathroom and put Medusa's head in it. They both grimaced at the head that had, in the meantime, turned a sickly greyish blue shade before returning back to the room. Grover was already fast asleep on his chair, covered in crumbs, candy wrappers and half-eaten junk food, snuggling into the pillow Merri had given him and mumbling gibberish. Annabeth was also asleep on the bed and completely dead to the world.

Quietly, Percy turned to Merri, whispering: "So, what's our dad like?"

Merri shrugged her shoulders and gave him a sad look. "I've no idea. I've never met him in person. The closest contact I'd ever had from him when I'd been attacked by that nasty, old Fury." Percy looked crestfallen, like Merri had been his only way to learn more about his father. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but all I know of the man is what I've read in various books on mythology while I was a kid."

Percy shook his head. "No, it's fine, really. It's no big deal."

She put her hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile making him smile in return. "Come on," she said. "It's pretty late and we have a long way ahead of us tomorrow so you should better go and get some sleep. Okay, kid?"

"Yeah, and don't call me 'kid'!" he mock-threatened. "You're not that much older than I am, you know?"

Merri smirked and gave him a 'whatever you say, mate' look before getting in the bed next to Annabeth. The girls had agreed to share the bed and let the boys manage with their own sleeping arrangements. Sleep came quickly that night, thanks to the exhaustion she felt from her current lack of sleep, so Merri was out like a light.

...

The next morning, Merri was the first one awake. She quickly checked the clock on her phone to see it was 5:30 in the morning. Sighing to herself, she got up as quietly as she could without waking Annabeth and Grover, noticing that Percy was nowhere to be seen, and went into the bathroom to get a shower all the while yawning like a fish.

"G'morning," Merri sleepily greeted Medusa's head in a thicker than normal Australian accent. It tended to get thicker when she got angry or was plain sleepy and tired, like now. She had already grabbed her little cosmetic bag from her backpack and proceeded to take a cold shower to wake herself up.

After her shower, Merri brushed her teeth and dried her hair, which she put in a side fish plait that reached just below her ribcage. She put on a Nirvana T-shirt, black skinny jeans that had holes and rips on them, her plaid hoodie which she tied around her waist and her converse. She exited the bathroom to find Annabeth stretching on the bed and Grover trying to rub sleep from his eyes. She briefly wondered where Percy had gone to until he entered the room in his swimming trunks and went directly into the bathroom after grabbing some clothes.

"When did he go to the pool?" Grover questioned.

"No idea," Merri answered. "When I went to sleep, he was still here. Must've woken up before me and went for a swim."

It took them almost half an hour, but they had all managed to take a quick shower, get dressed and were now ready to check out of the motel. Merri sent the boys and Annabeth to the truck while she checked them out. She came to the manager's desk with a dazzling smile on her face.

"G'day, sir!" The man gave her an odd look at her accent but she ignored him and gave him the key of the room back. Without another word, Merri turned on her heel and made for the big red truck.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Merri revved up the truck and pulled back on the highway in the direction of Nashville, trying to pay little to no attention to the ominous dark clouds and heavy wind that seemed to follow them everywhere.

...

Around noon, they passed the sign that said: 'Welcome to Nashville. Athens of the South!' Merri wanted to laugh her ass off at the notion of the home of country being anything like the home of civilized culture, but, instead, settled down for a snicker.

She pulled up at a park crowded with people, street performers, joggers... Percy was now wearing the hood of his hoodie up to try and conceal his identity since he was a wanted fugitive now. The four made their way through the park and masses of people to stand before the Parthenon, an exact duplicate of the ancient Greek architecture that stood directly in the middle of a modern Nashville park. Annabeth, Grover and Percy checked the map, while Merri stood a little to the distance and observed some of the street performers, to look back up at the Parthenon.

"The second pearl," Grover said. "It's in there. Somewhere."

"Wish Luke's map had been a little more specific than 'Parthenon'," Annabeth complained.

Merri shook her head and followed the group inside where it was crawling with people.

The space inside was surrounded by imposing columns and housed a 41' statue of Athena. It was like they had stepped back in time four thousand years. Annabeth gazed at the statue with a slightly moved expression while Merri tried to look around for any indication of the pearl.

Percy noticed the name 'Athena' in the bottom of the statue and turned to Annabeth. "Hey, it's your mom."

Annabeth got a look of longing in her eyes, one that Meri and Percy could both sympathize with. "Wonder if she really looks like that."

"We'll find out," Percy assured her before glancing at Merri who was looking at her younger half-brother with a mix of sadness and confirmation in her eyes. She offered him a small smile, which he returned, before searching for the pearl with her gaze. Just as she spotted what she was looking for, Grover called the attention of the two lovebirds who were gazing in each other's eyes.

"Guys, check this out. It's the pearl." They went closer to the pearl and both Percy and Annabeth finally noticed it.

There, the second green pearl was imbedded in the middle of Athena's crown, surrounded by other rare and colourful jewels.

"That was easy," Grover quipped.

"Easy? It's 30 feet in the air and this place is filled with tourists," Annabeth said.

Merri corrected her. "Actually, it's more like 40 feet."

Annabeth turned to glare at her. "What does that have to do with anything?!"

"I'm just trying to make it as accurate as possible," Merri shrugged innocently. Annabeth gave a frustrated groan at the older girl who just snickered to her chin. No matter where they were, Merri loved annoying 'Little Miss Perfect', as she liked to call her, and enjoyed getting reactions like this.

"I've got an idea," Percy told them. "We'll come back after this place closes. Come on, follow me." He motioned them to follow him.

"Or I can just throw my crutch up there, shake the pearl to fall out of there," Grover offered earning himself a 'Grover!' from Percy and a snicker from Merri. "Perce, just sayn' it's not a bad idea."

Merri hesitated a bit. She had a bad feeling about all this but decided to trust her baby brother's judgement. After all, it was his quest and she was the one intruding on it so she shut her mouth and followed the trio of younger kids out of the Parthenon.

...

'Memo to me! Memo to me: Never listen to Percy's stupid ideas ever again!' Merri thought to herself while they were hiding in the bathroom for the entirety of the day, waiting for the cover of night. They exited the bathroom stalls with Percy in the lead and Merri at the end of the group, watching their backs for anything unexpected.

"It's been closed for an hour," Percy informed them. "Let's move!"

At the same time Merri and Grover shot him a sarcastic 'Yes, sir!', Merri's complete with a mock-salute as well.

On the way Percy informed them of his plan. "I'll fly up," he said. "using Luke's flying shoes and get the pearl. Then-" He cut himself off and pulled Grover and Annabeth behind a column to cover.

Four janitors were in the Parthenon cleaning and shining things up for the next day.

"Okay, so what are we gonna' do?" Grover asked.

From behind them, Annabeth answered. "Okay guys, I've got this." They all turned to see her pulling a miniature crossbow from her bag and loading it with a dart.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah... You're gonna' kill the janitors?" Grover whisper-yelled at the grey-eyed demigoddess, who only said 'chill' and proceeded further without listening. "Those are working class Americans!"

Within the next thirty seconds, Annabeth had disposed of all the janitors, the men in brown uniforms deep asleep from the sleeping solution Annabeth used to cover the tips of her darts.

"Why did you do that?!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "They're not dead, they're unconscious! Now, come on! We've only got thirty minutes!"

While Grover pulled all of the janitors on a pile off to the side, Percy was busy putting on the flying shoes that Luke had given him and Annabeth and Merri had managed to Skype Luke to explain the usage of the shoes to Percy.

"Ah, g'day mate!" Merri greeted her friend when he appeared on the screen. "We've got a little bit we need for you to help us with."

Luke grinned at the ginger. "Well if it isn't my favorite Ausie?! What can I do you for?" He leaned closer on the screen and put his head on his fist, as if in thought.

Merri was about to answer, when Annabeth beat her to it. "How do you turn on the shoes?"

"What, no 'hello'?" Annabeth glared at him. "Okay, okay... Tell Percy that he's gotta' break into a run. He's gotta' build up speed, kinda like a jet on a... on a runway. But it's gonna' take some practice which is why I would recommend for you guys to let Merri to use the shoes since she's already got some experience with flying in them." They all looked at Merri with questioning looks to what she simply shrugged. She looked back at the screen with a smile.

"Alright, thanks Luke. Hooroo!" She waved him and powered down Annabeth's laptop. Merri stood up and put her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, which she had put on properly after the sundown. "So, who's gonna' be flying those thingies?" she asked the group.

Percy shrugged and broke into a run, moving fast. He begins to lift of, like a jet, being propelled ten, fifteen feet into the air before suddenly flipping in the air and missing the pearl completely, falling down but managing to grab onto the statue's hair in the last minute. Merri cringed at the sound of her brother smashing into the marble statue. With some help form the winged shoes, Percy managed to climb to the top of the statue, the pearl now within his grasp. He pulled the pearl from its resting place on the crown and showed it to the others with a winning smile on his face.

"I got it!" he yelled and slowly but wobbly flew down. "Here it is!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

While Percy was busy hugging Annabeth, five guards appeared in the Parthenon.

"Uh-oh..." It seemed that Percy had managed to spot the guards from over Annabeth's shoulder.

"Indeed," Merri quietly quipped. She had this gut feeling that something was wrong from the second she noticed the guards. There was something wrong with them.

"Look, I got this, okay?" Grover tried to assure them. He took a step closer to the guards, opening his jacket like he was showing them a badge. "Hey guys, I'm a part of the Recreational Services," 'The hell?!' "You guys were just caught sleeping on the job. You better be happy I'm not writing you guys up, alright? This is the last time!" The guards just stood in a line unfazed by Grover's words.

"We've been expecting you, Mister Jackson," they spoke in unison. Grover gave up on his 'cover' and returned to Percy's side, who just sighed 'not again'. "Just give us the Lightning Bolt and we'll let you go."

"Well, that's not getting old," Merri said sarcastically. Her fingers were discretely poised on her bracelet, ready to turn it into a sword at a moment's notice.

"Look, I don't have the Lightning Bolt," Percy insisted. The middle guard blew a small amount of fire and Merri immediately realized that her gut was right once again. The only problem was, she wasn't exactly sure what they were up against here.

"Okay," Grover took a step back with his eyes the size of saucers. "This is bad!"

The guards started dissolving into sand/smoke and mingling together until they turned into a huge slimy draconic creature with four heads upon long necks. 'Oh, you've gotta be bloody pulling my leg,' Merri thought upon the sight of the Hydra.

"HYDRA!" Annabeth screamed and pulled the boys to cover behind the columns with Merri hot on their heels. "Guys, you've got to watch out because it spits fire!" Just as she finished that sentence, the Hydra spat fire in their direction making them plaster themselves to the columns and Percy's sleeve caught on fire. He shook his arm so strongly trying to put it out that he lost his grip on the pearl and it rolled on the floor and onto the grate of a ventilation shaft.

Merri saw Percy looking at the pearl and then turned her head to find Annabeth trying to ward one of the Hydra's heads. She stuck her hand into her bag, rummaging through it until her fingers came together around the neck of her water bottle. A determined look on her face, she pulled the bottle out of the bag and while she unscrewed it she yelled to Percy before yelling to Annabeth: "Percy, when I say 'go!' you open Luke's shield and make for the pear. Once you've got it, get the hell out of here. Annabeth, get Grover and get out of here. Wait for Percy and then go to the truck. If everything goes fine, I'll meet you guy there five minutes later!"

"And what are you gonna do while we go with your plan?!" Percy asked her. Merri shrugged, a cocky smirk on her freckled face.

"Somebody's got to be the bait." She interupted them before they even got the chance to say anything. "This is your quest and I'm just the fourth wheel here so, I'm not that important to get the job done and I'm the oldest which makes me always right. So you'll listen to me and go with the plan!" Not even looking to see if they understood what she said, Merri unscrewed the lid of the bottle and poured the water on the floor before turning her bracelet into her sword. Breathing in to steel herself, she offered the younger teens a reassuring nod before yelling: "GO!"

Percy opened the shield, like Merri instructed him to do, and made a mad dash for the pearl while trying to dodge hits and bites from any of the Hydra's heads. Annabeth surged in the opposite direction, to Grover, and disappeared from Merri's sight. Merri could only hope the younger girl got to the satyr and they both managed to get out.

The moment Merri yelled for the younger teens to move, the water she spilt on the floor seemed to become alive forming a thin shield around her legs. She used the water to push the creature away from her brother while stabbing the snout of each head that managed to get around her shield. From the corner of her eye, she saw Percy up in the air, hacking and slashing at the Hydra.

The good news was that he had seemed to have figured out how to fly in Luke's flying sneakers. The bad news was that Percy had managed to cut off one of the heads. Immediately, Merri was reminded of a sentence she read in 'Captain America' once. 'Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.' Funny how it was the comic books and not mythology classes that taught her that.

"Percy, no!" Merri yelled at him in hopes he would stop what he was doing. "Stop!" Two heads fell on the floor with a hard thud and she could feel the floor vibrate slightly from the force of the fall. Percy had cut off two heads before she could get the words out. One of the heads opened its mouth and was about to spit fire and roast Percy when Merri reacted and put a shield of hardened water in front of her brother. She then used the rest to push the creature away from them; she was covered in sweat from all the exertion of using her hydrokinesis, before looking up at the younger boy. Percy landed before her with a huge grin plastered on his face, in the background a seemingly dead Hydra with all of its heads cut off fell on the ground, while Merri stared at Percy with a mix of disbelief and anger, but mostly anger.

"How flippin' awesome is that?! I just killed that thing!" Percy exclaimed to what Merri let out an angry growl. "What?" his face full of confusion at her reaction.

"Killed it?!" she said sarcastically. "You only made it worse!" Percy frowned.

"What're you talking about?"

"Don't you read books or comics? I mean you are only a bit younger than me." Merri rubbed the bridge of her nose in an attempt to relieve the pressure there.

"I'm dyslexic."

"Yeah, sorry. I forgot about that," she said looking at him. She never really had any major problem with her dyslexia; it only made her a slower reader than the rest of her mortal peers rather than making her completely unable to read any language other than Greek. Reason more how she got into Princeton med-school. "Okay, you took history with Chiron, right?" Percy nodded. Behind him, she could see the Hydra beginning to move meaning it was coming back to its senses and now it was double the trouble. "Well then, here's a little crash course in mythology for you. Hydras 101: 'Cut off one head, two more shall take its place'."

Percy turned just in time to see the Hydra grow its heads. Instead of the original four, it now had eight heads to take care of. Merri pulled herself and Percy behind a column to take cover when the Hydra started spitting fire at them again, all the while keeping a barrier of hardened water between herself and the flames. She could feel the water heating up and had to quickly figure a way to get the pearl and Percy out of the Parthenon before all of her water turned to steam. Despite her talent with hydrokinesin and large range of ability concerning it, turning steam back to water was too much for her.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked her upon seeing the grimace on her face and sweat rolling down from her skin, soaking up her clothes. Despite all this, Merri managed to crack a small grin at him and nod.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "I'll try and distract it while you get the pearl. Once you do, you get your ass out of here and take the truck to the next one!"

"But what about you?!" Panic was clearly written all over Percy's voice. Merri stubbornly shook her head.

"Don't worry 'bout me, I'll be alright. You need to get the pearls and get your mum back, okay?" Percy reluctantly nodded. Merri was looking at him with a look of desperation in her sea-green eyes that had somehow turned into an ocean blue hue. She was tired, it was clear, but she still worried more about his safety than her own. "Go!" She gestured in the direction of the pearl with her head.

Merri went in the other direction that Percy did and started throwing darts of hardened water at the monster. She managed to hit it in the eye a few times and it started to come at her biting and swiping its razor sharp claws, each as long as and thick as her leg. Merri danced between the fangs and the claws, hacking and stabbing at the Hydra's many faces until one of the heads looked behind its body, noticing Percy, and swiping its long tail at Merri before going after the other child of Poseidon. The force of the tail propelled Merri a couple of feet into the air and launched her at one of the columns. She hit it with her back, the blow expelling all air she had in her lungs, and she felt something warm trickle its way down her face. Licking her lip she tasted the metal tinge of blood from the cut there and her fingers touched the nasty cut on her forehead, it gushing with blood.

She tried not to be too fazed by that notion. Head cuts always bled heavily so it was nothing to worry about. Merri fought a wave of dizziness and nauseas she slowly pulled herself to her feet. Standing uneasily she saw the Hydra cornering Percy behind Athena's statue. A wave of unfiltered anger coursed through her veins making her stand taller, her footing more secure. Percy made one of the drinking fountains in the corner blow up, unintentionally giving Merri enough water to fight the Hydra and help Percy get away.

She watched Percy create a large wave to make a wall between himself and the Hydra while Merri made the water spread evenly on the floor beneath the unsuspecting beast. He passed her side running to the door while the Hydra kept spitting fire at the wall of water. When Percy's concentration on the wall wavered, Merri picked it up to keep the Hydra occupied. She turned her head to see Grover, Annabeth and Percy trying to open the Parthenon door but it wouldn't budge. The Hydra turned to them so Merri let the wall of water fall before making the water it left falling circle her feet like an iridescent snake, shimmering as it caught the shine of the lamps. Feeling her bracelet form on her wrist (she had dropped her sword when the Hydra threw her into the column), she twitched her wrist with a smirk on her face. Reacting to the movement of her hand, the layer of water on the floor shot up in neck breaking speed, forming spikes that impaled the Hydra on the place while the water that coiled itself around Meri formed chains that tied all the heads to the columns around them, making the Hydra look at the group of teenagers.

"Grover!" she yelled at the satyr. He shot her a confused look before she yelled again. "Medusa's head! Use the head!"

Grover ran to Merri's side just as the Hydra was getting ready to spit fire at them. It all depended on Grover now; Percy and Annabeth were too busy trying to get the door to open and all of Merri's strength and concentration was directed to maintaining the water chains and spikes in place. He pulled the head from his backpack, turning it to the Hydra and pulled its sunglasses up. The snakes on the head seemed to come to life in that moment as the Hydra gazed into the eyes of the dead Gorgon. It stopped its movements and stood still. Percy and Annabeth turned just in time to see the Hydra turn to stone and approached Merri and Grover.

Sighing in relief, Merri let the hardened water she was holding up slosh limply to the ground and gave off a tired smile. Grover grinned and kissed the Medusa's head in excitement before realizing what he did and wiping his mouth in disgust. Merri snickered at the sight before another wave of dizziness hit her and she fell to her knees in exhaustion, her trembling arms the only thing holding her from falling to the cold marble floor.

"Merri!" Percy immediately ran to her side and helped her tired form sit on the floor, letting her lean on him to keep her upright. "Are you okay?" Merri was breathing heavily and a wave of nausea hit her again.

"I'm really tired," she wheezed letting her head roll back. Her eyelids suddenly felt like they weighed a ton and she couldn't keep them open. "And really sick." She sighed. "I think I may've bonked my head a bit too hard when it threw me into that column," she admitted.

"She might have a concussion," Annabeth said kneeling by the siblings' side and checking Merri's head for any head trauma which proved a bit tricky since she had a nasty cut above her eyebrow and cheek, both of which were still bleeding rather heavily, a busted lip and a thin bleeding cut just below her hairline behind her ear. "We can't let her fall asleep or else she might not wake up at all. You shouldn't move her too much; we don't know what other injuries she might have."

"I'm pretty certain it's just my head that's a bit damaged," Merri sighed, her tired eyes back to their normal sea-green as opposed to the ocean-blue they were earlier and looking at the two teens. Grover just nervously stood in the background and nibbled at his thumb. "And could you, please, stop talking like I'm not here. It's kind of offensive, you know?" Annabeth frowned at her.

"We're trying to find a way to help you out here!" the grey-eyed girl practically growled at her. Merri frowned back at her even thought it caused a sharp sting of pain to shoot through her face when the crinkling of her skin pulled at the cuts that littered it.

"Well it's a good thing I'm supposed to be going to med-school this fall," Merri's voice turned to ice. "All I need is some water and I'll be fine." She took her tired eyes off the daughter of Athena and turned them to Percy who silently nodded at her request and summoned a large amount of water to them. He let it coat Merri's skin and they all watched as the pale skin seemed to absorb the water like a sponge, blood returning to the cuts that closed themselves back up leaving no mark, bruises on her arms and neck fading away. She already looked healthier and more energized as she let out a sigh of relief lifting herself from Percy's arms, kneeling on the floor with her hands flat on the marble as she summoned more water to herself and let her skin soak it up.

"There, see? All better now," Merri said when she got back to her feet. She located her water bottle and filled t up with some water from the busted drinking fountain. Her backpack was located under the rubble left from when she was thrown into the column. She took it, dusting some debris off of it, put her bottle inside and slung it over her shoulder turning to face the other teens. "We need to get out of here before someone comes in and finds all this mess."

...

They were seated around a table in some random diner, later that night, stuffing themselves with some junk food. Merri received some strange looks form the three when she had ordered a large bacon cheeseburger with a side of fries, a large coke and black coffee no sugar to go. She even gave their waitress her Supernatural thermos bottle to fill it with coffee promising a larger tip if the woman did so. When the waitress returned with their food and drinks, Merri's freshly filled thermos on the plate as well, Merri pulled out her wallet and gave the woman a twenty for her effort before paying for the other's food as well.

"So you're going to med-school in September?" Percy asked Merri, interrupting the silence that had fallen over their table. Merri nodded before chewing on her large bite of her cheeseburger and swallowing.

"Yeah. I always liked helping people and I've been good with all the biology and chemistry so I thought 'why not?' I sent the application and got back a letter telling me I got in Harvard med-school with full scholarship. Jack and mum were really happy and proud of me and they got me my own apartment up in Boston. My grandparents even got me my own car, which I love very much."

"What car did they get you?" Grover asked her.

"A 67' black Chevy Impala," Merri answered while girnning. "Do my grandparents love me or what?!" she bragged in mock innocence.

"That's a powerful car you've got there, sis," Percy grinned at her. Merri raised her glass of coke like she was about to make a toast.

"Cheers to that, little brother," she said with her mouth full before swallowing her food and taking a large gulp of her coke. All the while, Annabeth looked at the older girl with disgust written on her face.

"I don't get how you can classify as a girl," she said. "You act like a guy most of the time."

"The key word being 'most'," Merri clarified. "I act like a tom-boy because that's what I am. I never cared for makeup, or prissy clothes, I absolutely dread pink and don't see what others see in those stupid skinny celebrities. Why would I starve myself to death trying to look like them if I can peacefully enjoy my usual calorie bombs and still look the same?" Merri shrugged and took another astronomical bite out of her burger. Annabeth seemed like she was about to add something more, when she was interrupted by the sound of the news on the TV behind Percy's head.

"We interrupt our regularly scheduled program for this special report," said the TV. "Scientists are baffled by what now appears to be a single storm cloud that is expanding over much of Europe and Asia, moving toward the United States. Savage winds, rain and mammoth waves are being reported along the coastline of several continents. So far, no casualties but countries everywhere are preparing for the worst."

"The gods are angry," Annabeth said when they turned back to their meals. 'You don't say,' Merri thought with a sarcastic eye roll. She quickened her eating to finish her burger sooner. "We need to get the last pearl. Where's the next location?"

"Let us see..." Percy pulled out the map from his bag while Merri busied herself with wiping the remaining ketchup and burger grease from the corners of her mouth with a paper napkin.

"Well, guys," Grover started while the three huddled over the map. "We've got ourselves a good one. We're going to Vegas!" Grover's excitement was contagious and Merri found herself grinning at the satyr.

After they were finished eating and Merri took a sip from the thermos deeming the coffee drinkable, the teens huddled inside the big old truck with Merri at the wheel again.

"I'm sick of driving in silence," she said while digging through her bag. "I think it's best if we played some music. Don't you agree?" The others shrugged. A triumphant grin spread over Merri's face once sh found what she was looking for and pulled out a small casete with the words: 'Road trip Mix' written in a black marker. "Time for you kiddies to learn some quality music." Her eyebrows bounced as she put the casete into the radio and the sound of Metallica filled the booth of the car. The boys looked at her with smiles and Annabeth frowned at her as Merri grinning pulled out on the road and started for Vegas.

"Metallica, seriously? You really need to update your casete." Merri frowned back at her, her eyes not moving from the road. The boys stayed silent in the back seat in fear that one of the girls might lash out at them if they tried to butt in. They didn't know which was scarier; an angry Annabeth or and angry Merria.

"And why is that?" Merri asked.

"Well, for one, it's a casete," Annabeth said gesturing towards the radio. "And second, Metallica?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Merri wagged her finger at Annabeth. "See, driver picks the music ," she said pointing at herself and then pointing at Annabeth: "Shotgun shuts her cake hole!"

"So, you just assume you're always right?" Annabeth asker angrily to what Merri smirked.

"I don't assume, I am always right." With that Annabeth crossed her arms and sat beck in her seat pouting away for the next two hours before she finally fell asleep. Merri was even courtatious enough to turn the music volume down so the girl could get some shut eye, and not bother Merri too.

...

"So how was it growing up with a step-dad for you?" Percy asked suddenly. About an hour earlier, he and Annabeth switched seats, so Percy was sitting shotgun and Annabeth and Grover were both leaning on the back windows sleeping. "My step-dad was a real douche."

"I gathered that much in that motel," she said with a smirk.

"Was your step-dad ever like that?" Merri shook her head.

"Nah. Jack's a cool bloke. Not exactly a father figure for me but he's really nice and understanding. Doesn't make me call him 'dad', never has. He's more like a buddy than anything else."

"And what about your mom?"

"My mum... We're uh, really close I'd say. I mean, the woman raised me on her own for four years before she got married. Not that we ever had that apple pie life you all think I have. We've had our differences and I can't even recall all the times I ran away from home 'cause I got pissed at them. Most of the time I'm home, I feel awful, like I just want to get away from them but I still love them and go back to them."

"I don't get it. You say you love them but they also make you miserable." Merri sighed, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"Are you under the impression that family's supposed to make you feel good, make you an apple pie, maybe? They're supposed to make you miserable! That's why they're family!" She offered her brother a reassuring smile before returning her gaze back to the road ahead. "Now have we done feeling our feelings? Because I'd like to get out of this room before we both start growing lady parts." Percy laughed at her comment.

"You are a girl, Mer!"

"Don't mean I wanna become one of those pink wearing sissies!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Seeing the Nevada welcome sign came like a sight for sore eyes for Merri. It meant they were one step closer to completing the quest and Merri was one step closer to being as far away as possible from Annabeth Chase. The two demigoddesses' spent almost half the ride from Nashville to Vegas bickering, and not in a friendly manner.

On a normal occasion, Merri had nothing in particular against the younger girl as they usually stayed out of each other's path, unless it was a game of Capture-the-flag. They simply went on each other's nerves when they were forced to be around one another for a time lapse longer than ten minutes. Annabeth was annoyed by Merri's tomboyish manners and sarcasm while Merri disliked Annabeth because the girl aced like she was a know-it-all and treated Merri like she was not worth her attention because the older girl's godly parent had never claimed her.

After some persuasion from Percy, Merri had taken her casete from the truck's radio but, instead, put in her earplugs and turned on the same mix on her iPod, her lithe fingers thumping the rythm of the song currently playing on the steering wheel while Merri altered between humming and singing the lyrics under her breath. The last thing she needed was for Annabeth to wake up and start annoying the older girl again. Merri was slightly bobbing her head in tune, her ginger hair spilling over her face, shoulders and back. It had started to turn a darker shade the day she met Percy and was now a dark ginger, almost brown, colour. She knew it was only a matter of time before it turned black.

Merri was actually born with blonde hair that had ginger and black streaks. About the time she discovered she was a demigod, it had started to turn red. A year later, Merri's hair was its normal ginger red with blonde and black streaks. Now, it seemed, it was time for it to change colour once again.

'Don't listen what your girlfriend says,

She reads those magazines,

They say you failed the test

You don't have what she needs.

I slither like a viper

and get you by the neck,

I know a thousand ways to help you forget about her!

That bitch can eat her heart out!

Love bites, but so do I, so do I!

Love bites, but so do I, so do I!

Love bites!'

...

When Merri drove into Las Vegas, the younger kids were awestruck. Their youths were wide open, the jaws hanging and their eyes were huge as they stared at the imposing structures of the city's hotels and casinos. Merri shook her head at them and smirked.

"Welcome to Vegas, ankle-biters!" Merri grinned at them but they paid her no mind, they were too busy staring at the buildings. After a minute or two, they seemed to snap out of their trance and turned to their self-designated driver.

"So, how are we supposed to find the Lotus Casino?" Grover wondered.

"Well," Merri started. "Given the fact that it stands out like dog's balls, it shouldn't be hard to find."

"What?!" Annabeth frowned at Merri's words in disgust. Merri sighed in frustration.

"It means: 'It's obvious!'," Merri rolled her eyes before pointing at a large extravagant building with her hand. "See?" Percy peered through the windshield.

"That's it," he said. "The Lotus Casino." Merri drove the truck to the valet at the entrance.

"I've been looking forward to this," Grover told them as they exited the vehicle, taking their bags with them. "Look guys, remember: always place the bets on eights, never the tens, okay?"

"We're not here to gamble, Grover!" Annabeth growled at the satyr who wasn't even listening to her.

"We've got poker, Black Jack..." he kept listing the games but stopped when Annabeth interupted him with a fierce glare.

"We're not here to have fun," she insisted. "We're just here to grab the pearl and go, okay?" Merri pulled her bag onto her back and followed the three younger teens inside.

The interior of the place was done in the same extravagant and flamboyant style as its exterior. There were slot machines, a huge buffet littered with all kinds of food and just so many people buzzing around. Merri spotted Grover's jaw hang open at the sight of food and a little drool escaping the corner of his mouth. A sleek looking black car was spinning on display, the advert below it saying it was the jackpot prize. No matter how cool the car looked, nothing could compare to Merri's Impala back home. They just simply didn't make masterpieces like that anymore, global warming be damned. Merri could breathe under water, anyway.

In their search for the pearl, Merri noticed a lot of waitresses dressed in jade green silk dresses walking around, carrying trays filled with some kind of pink candy shaped like the lotus flower.

"Okay, this place is officially dope!" Grover exclaimed looking around at all the food on the buffets and all the pretty women around him. It seemed that the satyr had found his personal paradise. A man dressed in a suit the same colour as the waitress' dresses came forward.

"Here's your complementary Lotus Casino fun book," he said giving the book to Percy.

"Thanks, but we're not staying," Annabeth rejected. The man continued to follow them, holding the book in his hand the whole time.

"Please, I insist. It's good for everything in the hotel and the casino," the man explained. Although Percy took the book, the group passed the man.

"We don't want presents. We're not checking in," Percy said.

"That guy was persistent," Grover noted. Percy gave the satyr a sarcastic 'yeah!' while Merri gave him a sarcastic look from Percy's side.

"We're here for one thing and one thing only," Percy told them. They were now in a huge room filled with arcade and casino games as well as what seemed to be carnival rides. Percy was about to continue his instructions when he noticed a glowing tower with 'Turbo Life' written on it, standing behind a large fountain and got distracted saying: "That is really awesome!" He quickly recovered and started looking around. "Where would we find a green pearl in this place?" he wondered.

A waitress passed them by, carrying a tray filled with various drinks. Grover's head followed the girl in the tight green dress before starting after her. "Maybe on a cocktail waitress or a show girl. We should start there!" Annabeth and Merri exchanged exasperated sighs and head shakes watching the junior protector limp his way after the waitress. If there was one thing they could both agree on, it was that Grover was hopeless when it came to women and food.

Another waitress, a blonde this time, came to them with a tray of candy lotuses. "Can I get you something?" She spoke in an overly sweet tone that made Merri think she risked getting diabetes just by listening to her. She had always hated people who pretended to be something they're not. "Try one of a lotus flower. They're sooo good! It's our signature dish!" The blonde pushed her tray under their noses. Grover looked at her with a puppy-eye look while another waitress approached and silently offered her tray to Percy and Merri, who stood a couple of feet to the side of Grover.

"Oh? Really, signature?" Grover asked with stupid amazement lacing his voice. "Is it good?" Grover, Percy and Annabeth all picked up a lotus flower while Merri seemed to hesitate a little. She had a feeling deep down that something was wrong here but seeing the looks the others gave her when she didn't take a flower she relented. After all, what damage could one piece of candy do? It's not like she's on some freaky diet she has to uphold! "YO! Do we have to pay for this?!" Grover yelled after the waitresses who went away as soon as Merri took the flower.

"I guess we don't," Percy concluded when the waitresses never came back.

"It's free!" Grover exclaimed in amazement.

Merri gave her lotus a suspicious look; it still gave her an uneasy feeling like something was off with it. The fact that they were free was also quite odd. She sniffed the flower she held between her fingers, it smelled like sugar and vanilla. Giving it one more look, Merri shrugged her shoulders and bit into the pink candy at the same time as the gang. It tasted like toffee and had a faint hint of vanilla. It wasn't the tastiest thing Merri had eaten; nothing was as good as her mum's lemon pie.

All of a sudden, her mind started to go blank and all she could think of was how good the flower tasted and how much she wanted to go and have fun, everything else aside.

"Wow," Grover commented after taking a bite out of his own flower. "This is the most delicious thing I've ever consumed."

The colours of Merri's surroundings were slowly starting to blur before clearing out and seeming more vivid than they did before. The music was pounding in her ears and she had a strong urge to go and dance. The others were looking around them as well and suddenly started giggling like a bunch of school girls. Or was it as if they've breathed too much laughing gas in? Huh, see, that's a really interesting observation.

"Guys, why don't we stay here for a while?" Annabeth proposed, Grover agreeing the second she finished the sentence. Merri felt torn between going on their way and finding the pearl and staying at the casino and probably having the most fun in her life.

"That sounds as an amazing idea," Percy said. Grover was slowly starting to sound more and more like the goat he partly was, the sound making the girls laugh almost hysterically. "But we're on a time sensitive mission, right now," he continued while Annabeth and Merri took one more bite out of their lotus flowers. "Aren't we?" he asked suddenly.

"I can't remember," Grover admitted.

"I totally forgot what I was going to say."

Annabeth got a shit-eating grin spread on her face. "I think I've figured it out," she informed. "I think I know why we're here."

Percy looked at the daughter of Athena with a blank stare, Merri doing the same. It seemed that the lotus flowers had a similar effect on the children of Poseidon. Even the ever focused Merri was having problems concentrating on the quest they had before them and all she could think of was that she wanted to go and have some fun. "Why are we here?" Percy asked.

"To have fun!"

"Okay," he nodded. "Let's never leave! Let's stay here!" Merri grinned at her brother's words and gave an excited 'yeah!' before the four teens started laughing together.

Merri got her arm around the boys' shoulders and with a huge grin that she would never make in public, were she in her normal state of mind, yelled: "Let's party!"

...

A few hours later found Merri on the dance floor with Grover and a bunch of other casino patrons. They were each doing a 'solo' to the casino's upbeat techno music while Percy and Annabeth were back at the bar with their drinks watching their friends having fun. Grover was out of his disguise and was sporting an orange wife-beater and a small hat on the top of his head while Merri was in her ripped jean shorts with ripped black leggings underneath, an indigo blue T-shirt and her red chucks while her hair was let down, falling all the way down to her waist. Whenever she raised her arms while dancing and her shirt would ride up a little, a glimpse of the tattoo she had over her side could be seen.

She was laughing and twirling with a wide grin on her freckled face. For a second, she wondered where her hoodie had disappeared to until she realized it was currently tied around her waist. She must've taken it off when she'd gotten too hot in it. A shot glass filled with whiskey in her hand- she'd snatched it off a tray of a random waitress passing her by- Merri made her way to the bar. Her feet were aching so she decided she would take a break for a while, sit down, and have a drink- or two-before continuing on her merry way. She had to laugh at the unintended pun in her head.

She was a t the completely different end of the bar than Annabeth and Percy due to the crowd. Percy located her with his gaze and she lifted her glass with a smile at her younger half-sibling in a manner of salute to let him know she was fine. Merri was sipping from her glass when another waitress with a tray of lotuses came by her and offered her some. In a trance, Merri grabber one and gave the waitress a grateful smile before the woman continued on her way. Swinging to the rhythm of the booming music, Merri made to take a bite out of the sugary flower when something stopped her.

"Don't eat the flower, Merriall," a familiar male voice whispered in her head. She felt like she'd heard that voice before, like she's supposed to know it but she couldn't remember where she'd heard it before. "It dulls the senses, keeps you prisoner here." She looked around to see if there was really someone talking to her but there was no one. She couldn't even see Percy and Annabeth anymore- they were carried away by the crowd- and Grover was nowhere to be accounted for. Merri put the flower down, finished her glass in one gulp and left the bar without a word.

What got her to believe the voice was its use of her full name and not the nicknames she had or the shorter versions she put on all of her IDs. Not even Jack, her step-dad, knew her name was Merriall. Only her mum and real father knew that.

Merri walked down the casino looking for anything amiss, or strange. Despite the slight buzz her drink was giving her, she could feel the effect of the louts flower slowly becoming weaker. Already the colours around her were starting to look increasingly normal and the music was pounding less in her head. She didn't even know why she was dancing to it in the first place- she never even liked techno and pop, she was more of a rock type of person.

"Would you like another lotus flower, miss?" a passing waitress asked Merri.

The girl shook her head and gave an apologetic smile. "No, thank you. I'm positively full." She side-stepped the blonde waitress and left without turning back. Her instincts were telling her to get the gang together, find the pearl and get the hell out of here as fast as possible. There was just something wrong with this entire place and it was giving her the creeps. It was simply too good to be true. Although, she had won over ten thousand dollars in a game of blackjack earlier.

"Look around you," the voice in her head insisted. "Focus! Focus!" She was in the gaming room with a massive variety of different arcade games, some of them dating even to the 1950s! Passing through, she was faced with an onslaught of blonde Barbie-like waitresses offering her lotus flowers and she kept rejecting each and every one of them. It seemed like they were literary popping out of thin air, they would just appear in front of Merri with a plate in their hands and a fake smile on their painted lips. She was almost knocked down on the floor by one of them appearing like that.

A couple minutes later, Merri finally bumped into a familiar face, Percy, and he looked like he'd seen a ghost or something. "You okay, mate?" she asked worriedly. He did look a little pale.

"You didn't eat any more of those flowers, right?" The frantic look on his face told her that he'd been off the flowers for about as long as she has.

Merri shook her head. "No, a voice told me not to eat any more of those so I didn't. Made me finally notice there's some serious weirdness going on around here," she explained.

Percy nodded at her words. "Yeah, me too." He took a breath before continuing. "I just ran into a guy who thinks it's still 1971!"

"What?!"

"Yeah. Anyhow, we gotta' find Annabeth and Grover. I mean, who knows how long we've been in here. " Merri could practically see the wheels turning in her brother's head as her started thinking of a plan to get out. "We get them, find the pearl and get the hell outta here! What do you say?"

She grinned. "Just what I was thinking. We better stay together, though," Merri said. "If we get separated, then the chances are that one of us will get under the influence of those bloody flowers again! I knew there was a reason I hated pink," she finished muttering to herself but Percy heard her and laughed as they started making their way back to the bar where Percy said her left Annabeth at.

The voice in her head had started talking again and from the looks of Percy frowning at thin air and putting his hand on his temples he was hearing the voice too. "Merriall, wake up! You need to escape! Wake up!" The voice was persistent, she'd give it that but she wasn't very fond of its use of her full name. All she missed was for it to start using her middle name as well. Merri felt a small migraine developing behind her eyes. She was definitely going to need a shit load of aspirin to finish this quest by the looks of it. More and more waitressed started bugging them with the bloody flowers and Merri swore that if she never saw another flower it would be too soon for comfort.

Percy suddenly stopped near one of the roulette tables causing Merri, who was walking a step or two behind him, to bump into the younger demi-god. She came to stand by his side with a questioning look.

"What is it?"

He pointed at the table. "Look." And there it was, the thing they were looking for, sitting in plain sight. The pearl was being used as a roulette ball on the table Percy had stopped at.

Merri grinned and patted his shoulder. "You have keen eyes Master Jackson," she said. Percy looked at her in confusion. "What?!" she defensively exclaimed. "Don't tell me you've never read the Hobbit!"

Percy gave her a dead-pan look. "I'm dyslexic."

Merri cringed slightly as she remembered. "Oh yeah, I need to remember that," she muttered to herself. Then another waitress showed up offering them lotus flowers. Merri just gave an exasperated sigh as Percy proceeded to argue with the blonde woman.

"No! I really don't want another lotus flower, so, please, leave me alone!" One of the male workers of the casino popped up out of nowhere next to the siblings.

"Is there a problem Mister Jackson? Miss Rafter?" the man asked turning to Merri. Merri and Percy gave him calculated looks.

Merri shook her head silently as Percy started backing off from the casino employees. "No, thank you." They turned around and weaved their way through the crowd in another attempt of reaching their companions.

They found Annabeth dancing with some more people not far from the bar they left her at. The grey-eyed demi-goddess was doing some slightly awkward dance while holding a half-eaten lotus flower in her hand and laughing like she'd been breathing laughing gas as oxygen. Percy immediately pulled her from the crowd. "What're you doing with that? Gimmie that! Don't eat that!" He threw Annabeth's flower away from her and the girl started protesting.

"What did you do that for?! We were having so much fun!"

Merri came around Annabeth's other side and grabbed Annabeth by her elbow starting to lead her in Grover's general direction. "We have to go," the ginger said in a clip tone that left no room for argument. "And we weren't having fun," she added as an afterthought.

They found Grover sprawled on a couch in the night-club part of the casino, surrounded by women. It seemed like the satyr had finally gotten his wish to come true. Women were over him like flies on manure.

Percy was yelling at the junior protector and waving his arms like a windmill trying to get the latter's attention. When the satyr finally looked away from the girls and to his friends Percy said: "Grover, wake up! We've got to go!"

Grover looked at Percy with a confused and mostly agitated look. "Perce, your timing is terrible, okay?" he said while scooting closer to his friends in his seat. "Dude, we're heading to the chapel, we're getting married!" He excitedly looked at the entire pack of girls surrounding him. Annabeth had a happy excited grin on her face while the siblings just looked at the satyr with a mix of surprise and annoyance.

"How romantic!" Annabeth quipped at what Merri just scoffed and crossed her arms across her chest.

Grover was looking at his 'pack' with confusion. "Hey, which one of you did I propose to?" Every girl in the 'pack' raised their arms excitedly. Merri was getting sick of all this stalling, so she grabbed a glass of what seemed to be water and threw it in Grover's face, completely soaking his head and getting some of the girls in the crossfire as well.

"Wake up!" she practically growled at the satyr.

The satyr just got up from his seat with his face still dripping and patted Merri's cheek. "Girl, you're such a buzz kill." The look that fell over Merri's now blue eyes was enough to make any sane person and monster run for the hills but, alas, it had no effect on the buzzed satyr.

"Percy, what's wrong with you two?" Annabeth turned to Percy. "Why are you doing this?"

"Both of you need to wake up!" Percy caught Grover by the shoulder when the latter started o turn away from him. "We're in a trance! We're trapped! Listen, if you eat the flowers, you'll never want to leave. We'll be stuck her forever!"

Looks of amazement and, seemingly, shock crossed Annabeth and Grover's faces. Merri spotted the man in the suit looking over at them and talking to the security man. She tapped Percy's shoulder and wordlessly pointed at the two men without breaking eye-contact. "Could you have told them in any less conspicuous way?!" Merri harshly whispered.

Percy just ignored her. "Oh, no. We've got to go." They quickly collected their stuff and started going in the direction of the nearest exit. They split up into pairs- Annabeth and Percy, and Grover and Merri. The latter duo ran into the security who tried to stop them from leaving.

Grover gave a little girlish scream when the security popped up, but both he and Merri quickly came to. The satyr used his crutches as leverage as he delivered a donkey kick to the security detail that stood behind him and then knocked out the other one by hitting him over the head with them. Merri hastily slammed the heel of her foot into one man's crotch, incapacitating him for a good measure of time. The second man lunged at her but she side-stepped his arm and delivered a brutal slam of her hand to his face, bringing his unconscious.

Grover and Merri nodded at each other's handiwork and ran after Percy and Annabeth. Running past the roulette tables, Merri spotted Percy standing on one and putting the pearl into his pocket. Annabeth and Grover were a little to the front. Still in full charge, Merri grabbed Percy's outstretched arm, pulling him down from the table to her side and using the force to swing herself around her brother and throw an accurate roundhouse kick to the head of a security man that managed to get a little too close for comfort. Regaining her balance, the siblings followed their friends in the direction of the prize car. They huddled together with Grover driving, Percy as shotgun and Annabeth and Merri in the back. Grover made quick work with finding the keys, turned up the car and drove them out of the damn casino, right though the main glass doors and out onto the road.

All pumped up, Grover yelled: "Now that's how you get out of a casino! That's how you drive!" He obviously failed to notice the girls practically rolling all over the back seat from his driving.

Annabeth got a look of understanding and sat up so she was between the front seats. "Of course! Not it all makes sense." she informed them in a way that had them all going for the bloody pronoun game Merri hated playing with Annabeth. It was just one of the things the older demi-goddess didn't like about the daughter of Athena.

Percy took the bait and asked the question. "What?" Merri rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat, pulling her bag from her back to her lap and starting to rummage through it in search for something.

"It was the den of the 'Lotus Eaters'," Annabeth explained. She turned a bit in her seat to see if Merri was listening to her to find the older girl practically waist deep in her backpack. Scoffing, she turned back to the boys. "They've been luring people into their traps since the ancient times."

"Guys," Grover started. "Tomorrow's June 21st," he said pointing to the giant screen with the date on it. The statement caused Merri to abruptly pull her head out of the bag and although she was seeing light spots all around her vision.

"Come again," She demanded while rubbing her fists into her eyes in an attempt of alleviating the amount of the spots in her vision.

"We were in there for five days!" They all exclaimed.

"It felt like hours!" Grover said.

Merris shook her head. "Guys, it doesn't matter. The solstice is tomorrow and we have to get to Hades pronto. Percy," she turned to her brother. "What does the map say? Where to next?"

Percy pulled the map out of his backpack and unfolded it. A new location popped up on the parchment, a little bit to the west from their current location. Annabeth, Merri and Percy stared at the map in wonder for a moment. "Hollywood?" Percy asked.

"Hollywood, huh?" Grover confirmed. "Okay, Hollywood. I can get us there in four hours, maybe three." He gave them a look that said he would try but couldn't promise.

Annabeth and Merri leaned back in their seats in preparation for the drive. Annabeth was probably contemplating what their plan, once they got to Hades, would be. Merri turned her head to the window and was looking at the city lights passing them by at an almost blinding speed due to Grover's speeding.

She felt a little uncomfortable in the back seat. Mind you, it had nothing to do with Annabeth Chase sitting right next to her. Rather, it felt weird to her that she was not the one driving right now. Up to this point, she was the self-appointed designated driver of the group.

In an attempt of drowning out the silence that fell over the car, Merri pulled out her iPod from her bag and put her earplugs, turning the music to a deafening volume. Seconds later, her foot started tapping the rhythm of the song while she closed her eyes and her head bobbed to the beat. She pulled out a granola bar she had left from before and opened it once her stomach decided to treat the gang with its best impression of a blue whale. "Let me know when you're tired so I can take over the wheel," she informed Grover while pausing the song that was playing for the moment. "If there's nothing else you need me for, I'll be turning in. I haven't slept in five days." She continued the song and snuggled deeper into her seat, trying to get comfortable. She was asleep within seconds.


	10. Chapter 10

"I may not be Uncle Hades' biggest fan, but he sure knows how to pick a place to live," Merri commented as they drove into L.A. The thick storm clouds that were gathering on the sky with the hour didn't really manage to dampen Merri's mood of going here. It's been almost four years since she's last been to L.A., let alone Hollywood.

"And now, the latest breaking news from KZLY," the radio said as Merri drove them in the direction of the Hollywood sign. She and Grover swapped places about an hour or so after Merri fell asleep in the car. She wasn't all that excited about being woken up but, once she sat behind the wheel, she slammed down on the gas pedal, practically plastering the others to the backs of their seats. Nevertheless, she got them here in just under three hours, so her insane speeding was a necessary evil. "An unprecedented storm cloud has covered most of North America. Authorities in several states are ordering evacuation and are reporting severe weather conditions." Merri pulled over not far from the sign.

Everybody was quick to gather their belongings and get out of the car. They hastily made their way up the hill to the sign with Merri and Percy in the lead and Annabeth and Grover fast behind.

"Watch your step!" Merri called behind her without looking at her own feet- they always managed to find good leverage no matter the terrain- as she sped through the knee-high dried grass and weeds that grew along the path.

"Hold it!" Percy called to them. They were standing in front of the letter 'H' and it seemed there was some Greek graphite sprayed on it in black paint. Before their eyes, the letters seemed to change into readable script. "Woe to all depraved souls," Percy read. He shared a look with all of them.

As he spoke the words, an entrance opened in a pile of dirt behind the big white metal letter. There was no doubt it was the entrance to the Underworld and to Hades' lair.

Merri clapped her hands together. "Alright, kiddies!" she said with a grin on her face. She was slightly glad she would be getting them out of her hair but it still pained her little that she was letting her younger brother go down into the Underworld without her. Alas, they only had three pearls and she knew that that wouldn't be enough to take them all home if the plan went okay. "This is as far as I go."

Percy turned to her with a sad look. "Are you sure about that?"

She shrugged. "I guess. It's you guys' quest after all and I'm just the fourth wheel in this story." Merri smirked at the looks she received. "Ah, don't tell me you're gonna miss me!" she teased. "Look, don't worry about me. You should be worrying about getting your mum back," her words were directed at Percy. "I'll be just fine and will meet you at the entrance to Olympus like I said back at the camp."

They seemed to accept her words and turned back to enter the Underworld. Merri turned back to the path they came from before remembering something.

"You better still have those drachmas 'cause you're gonna need them!" she yelled over her shoulder as she watched the entrance close before her. She was left wondering if they had managed to hear her last words or not. Silently praying to Poseidon that they did, Merri made her way back down the hill to the car. With all the storm clouds and the wind, she was getting chilled in her thin clothes, so she decided to go into the car and change for the colder climate she knew would await her up north at the Olympus entrance that just so happened to be located on top of Empire State Building in New York.

Getting in the car, Merri proceeded to quickly take off her clothes and pull out new ones before stuffing the old ones into her bag. She pulled on a white long sleeved shirt over which she put her Led Zeppelin T-shirt, dark blue skinny jeans, her red chucks and her plaid hoodie. All dressed, Merri exited the car. She pulled her hair back into a pony tail and stepped a few feet away from the car. She extended her hand before her, palm up, concentrating on the familiar pull of water within the air surrounding her. Focusing on the tiny particles, she let her body change into steam before being carried on the breeze.

This was one of the powers she rarely used since it required great physical and mental stamina. On normal conditions, it left her only slightly dizzy but with only an hour of sleep in five days there was she had no idea what consequences this trip would have on her.

...

It was almost sundown when Merri entered the skyline of New York in her steam form. She rode the winds all the way from Hollywood to here and could already feel exhaustion settle in her body even if it wasn't exactly solid now. With some of her last strengths, she directed herself onto the roof of the ESB where she promptly fell to her knees, heaving, as she returned to her normal form. She was drenched in cold sweat, some of it trickling down her face and dripping onto the floor from the tip of her nose, her arms shook with the effort of holding her body and her bag upright so she took off her bag and set it next to her. Composing herself a little, Merri sent up a prayer for Percy and the others' safety before her body gave out and she toppled down onto the cold floor.

...

She wasn't sure how much time had passed but Merri was aware of someone shaking her shoulder and calling her name. She could feel their hands on her face, patting her cheeks in an attempt of waking her up. Merri let out a groan, her sea-green eyes fluttering open, seeing the person trying to wake her was Percy. "What's going on? How long was I out?" she asked while rubbing her temple with her hand and being helped to sit up by Percy.

"We just got out of the Underworld," Percy informed her. "It's ten to midnight so we managed to get here on time. Are you alright?"

Merri nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired, that's all." She looked around seeing Annabeth standing next to a woman in her late thirties with dark hair, who she presumed was Sally, Percy's mum, but there was no sign of Grover. "Where's Grover?" she asked standing up.

They all hung their heads. "He stayed behind," Annabeth answered. "So that we could escape."

Not wanting to delve on the topic of the missing satyr, Merri looked at Sally. "Hi, you must be Percy's mum, Sally," she said offering her hand. "I'm Merri."

Sally shook her hand with a small smile. "Percy told me about you. You're his sister, right?"

Merri nodded. She turned back to the others. "We need to hurry up. Time's running short on us. The door's this way," she ran towards the entrance with the others following her. She was just about to open the door when a familiar voice caused her to freeze in place.

"PERCY JACKSON!" She turned her head slightly and saw Luke landing on the rooftop with his flying shoes and a leather jerkin. "Well, you weren't supposed to make it out alive," he said looking straight at Percy. Merri quietly ushered Sally to take cover and moved away from the door to stand closer to Percy's side, a look of pure shock etched on her face. "I can't let you take that Bolt to Olympus."

"What do you mean by that?" Merri asked. Her fingers were twitching at her side, ready to grab her sword on a moment's notice. Luke finally acknowledged her presence on the roof.

With a look she'd never seen on him before, he spread his arms and said: "I'm the Lightning Thief."

Time seemed to stand still for Merri as she processed what he'd just admitted. Luke, her best and only friend, the person who managed to make her smile with his stupid jokes, the only person who was brave enough to go head-to-head in sparring matches, the person who decided to befriend the socially outcast ginger menace that was Merriall Rafter, was the Lightning Thief?! He was the one who betrayed Olympus and caused the manhunt on Percy? He was the one who stole her Uncle's most prized possession that caused her Father being accused of having a part in it? The move that could bring complete and total annihilation of the world they know and the end of the Gods' reign? Why? Why would he do such a thing?

She was aware of his discontempt with the gods and the way they seemed to abandon their own children. He was angry with his father for doing that to him. Hell, her own father did the same thing to her but that didn't mean that she despised the man. True, she was mad at him for leaving but she always believed that he had his reasons for leaving her when she was only a baby. Luke, however, was not nearly as forgiving and understanding to his father as Merri was to hers. Often, he spoke to her of how it would be great if the gods never existed and if there were no Olympus. Sometimes, he even went so far as to explain various plans of bringing the gods down to her but would always pass it off as a joke when she would tell him that it wouldn't be right and that everything would come crumbling down if that were to happen.

All of the thoughts passing through her head seemed like hours ticking by while, in reality, it all happened in only less than a few seconds. Something visibly broke inside of her and her sea-green eyes seemed duller. They darkened into a cold dark blue, the colour of the ocean during a savage storm. Anger was coursing through her veins and all the fatigue she was experiencing not a minute ago, vanished completely, leaving only adrenalin in her system.

"You hid the Bolt in my shield. Why?" Percy asked. Merri grabbed Annabeth's arm behind Percy's back and gestured her to take cover with Sally. Despite disliking the blonde, she had no interest in seeing the younger girl getting hurt in the cross-fire of the fight that was most certainly to ensue within moments. From the corner of her eye, Merri located her bag lying on the floor not three feet away from her. Knowing there was still a bottle full of water in there, she concentrated on trying to make the bottle explode within the bag and then pulling the liquid out without being noticed. She thanked the gods for a moment for Percy still talking to Luke and, thus, keeping the blonde's attention away from her.

"Well, when you said you were going to the Underworld, it hit me," Luke told Percy. "That is the perfect opportunity to get the Bolt to Hades."

"Why would you do that?" Percy insisted. Merri felt the bottle give way under the water's pressure and the liquid pouring out of the plastic container and thoroughly soaking through all her belongings, including her casete collection and her iPod. Not having time to delve on that, she focused on getting the water to her without being conspicuous.

"To bring Olympus crumbling down."

"Percy, let's go," Sally called. "Let's go!" Percy and Annabeth made to follow Sally into the entrance but Merri stood still with a bad feeling swirling in her gut.

"Well, it's too late 'cause I'm returning the Bolt back to Zeus," Percy taunted and Merri fought the urge to slap her forehead and to kick Percy's ass. He just had to be cheeky, didn't he!? Water coiled around her half-hidden arm like a transparent snake ready to attack and her muscles tensed in expectation of the assault that was to ensue.

Luke frowned at Percy. "Not before midnight."

He lunged at Percy with the help of his flying shoes, his hands going for the Bolt but narrowly missing it, as both Percy and the Bolt were pushed to the side at the last minute, and, instead, slamming into Merri. Reflexively, she rolled back on her feet when she fell down on the floor from the force of the blow. Her fingers wrapped themselves around the water, her wrist flicking the stream and using it as a whip to wrap it around Luke's ankle that was flying in the direction of Percy's head. She gave it a hard yank, pulling Luke lower, and twisting herself on the ground, delivering a roundhouse kick to his chest that sent him slamming into the railing on the building.

Luke quickly recovered and lunged at Percy again with his dagger drawn. Percy parried the blow with the Bolt, sending sparks flying and blinding Luke for a second before the blonde delivered a hard kick to Percy's chest, sending the younger teen sprawling on the ground and causing him to drop the Bolt.

From the corner of her eye, Merri saw Annabeth making to dash for the Bolt but raced ahead of her after yelling: "Cover Sally!" to which the girl reluctantly abided. Just before Merri's fingers could touch the Bolt, Luke managed to snatch it away and turned to face her, now armed with one of the most powerful weapons in existence. Forming a blade of ice in her hand, she attacked him with a series of brutal and swift blows but he managed to parry every single one and even deliver some of his own, all of which left cuts on her upper arms and some nasty gashes on her face. Getting angrier by the failed blow, she tried using her superior agility and flexibility to try and knock the Bolt out of his hand. With a precise and swift kick of her leg, she managed just that and the Bolt was sent flying into the air where Luke managed to catch it once more with the help of his flying shoes. She was really starting to hate those little buggers!

Percy ran to her side, inspecting the cuts that she'd sustained; Luke had always been much better with a dagger than she was. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." Her answer was briefly snapped before she turned back to Luke with a murderous look. She would never be able to forgive him for attacking Percy and her. To her, family was sacred and she would go to the ends of Earth just to see them safe. Percy was her half-brother so the same thing applied to him as well. "Why would you want the war of the gods?" she asked trying to understand his reason behind his actions. He was her friend, her only friend, and she would not give up on him.

"Control," was his answer as he floated in the night sky, the Bolt tightly clutched in his hand.

Confusion made its way onto Merri's features. "What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"

He sent her a crooked smile that once made her smile back but now sent anger coursing through her veins. "It's simple, Mer. I already explained it to you many times before but you'd never listen. They've been ruling for too long and I say it's time for our generation to take over! Remould the world in our image, a world of new heroes!"

Percy looked like he was about to say something but Merri beat him to it. "You're crazy!" she shouted at him. "It would never work and you know it! A true hero fights for the weak, for what's right! This, what you're doing is wrong! Can't you see it?! You're angry at the gods because your father left you! Well newsflash, my father left me too! You're angry at your dad so you're causing a war that will end up tearing more families apart just like ours were torn apart! And you... You're no hero," she pointed an accusing finger at him. She could see rage in his eyes at her words but she didn't care. She was too far gone in her words to register the fact that he was about to attack her. She wouldn't believe he would attack her.

Faster than Merri could react, Luke raised the hand he was holding the Bolt with, pointing it in her direction. Fear overtook her as the shot of lightning crackled through the night air, closing in on her. Everything seemed to go in slow-motion. Percy grabbed Annabeth's arm and pulled her to cover the moment Luke's hand started moving. Merri barely found it in herself to raise her own hands and summon a shield of water that she had no time to freeze. The lightning hit the shield, the electricity coursing through the liquid and into her body that was still connected to it by her hands. A feeling of unspeakable agony went through her body as she hit the ground from the momentum, a bloodcurdling scream tearing itself from her lips as a heavy stench of burned flesh filled the air. Most of the pain was located in her burned arms but she could still feel a pain in her thigh and something warm trickling from it, as well as a series of pricks on the unburned expanse of her arms and on her face. She must've landed on some rock or something when the lightning sent her flying and cut her up badly.

Merri didn't have time to react as she heard the crackle of lightning again and more debris was sent to her face from the second blast. Her eyes were firmly shut to avoid getting dust in them and from the pain. Someone pulled her to the side by grabbing her shoulders and hauling her back. Merri guessed it was either Annabeth or Sally. A warm comforting hand took hold of her cheek and Merri hissed at the contact.

"Merri! Merri! Open your eyes, please!" Annabeth pleaded with her. The ginger demigoddess managed to open her eyes a fraction through the pain and send the blonde a smirk.

"Guess you were right after all," Merri said sarcastically.

"What d' you mean?"

"You... you said that it was... suspicious of Luke... to-to send us to M-me-medusa," Merri ground through the pain as Sally helped her slowly to sit up, mindful of her wounds. She spared a quick look around and noticed that the three females were the only people on the roof. "Where... uh, where's Percy?" Concern for her little brother was, at that moment, stronger than the agony of getting burned to crisp by Zeus' Bolt.

"He and Luke fell of the roof fighting," Sally supplied.

For a few moments they all sat in quiet as Merri tried to gather her strength back up. Soon enough, she could hear the sound of flapping wings of the shoes and was ready to jump from the wall she was leaning heavily on and at the person wearing them before she saw a familiar mop of dark hair. Percy was back and he managed to get the Bolt back.

Overhearing anything that was being said, Merri limped inside with Annabeth's help. Sally pulled some switches on the side that revealed a golden lift door that lead to Olympus. The four huddled inside and Merri leaned on one of the sides for support while Sally pressed the top button.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Merri groaned as she felt the lift stop moving indicating that they had finally arrived to Olympus. The doors opened up allowing for the spectacular view of the realm of Gods. She could see different palaces scattered in a seemingly random pattern amongst clouds, a pillar or two here and there. The clouds were a dark grey mixed with black from the combination of Zeus' rage and the face that it was night-time.

Trying to keep her severely burned arms from touching her body or each other, Merri followed the two younger demi-gods out of the lift and onto the road that led to the grand palace she only guessed was Zeus' and where the council was currently at.

"Percy, I can't get through. You gotta go!" Sally said holding her hand splayed on the barrier keeping her from setting foot into the realm of immortals. With one look back, Percy set for the grand palace, Annabeth and Merri following close by.

The noise of the arguing gods could be well heard outside of the palace walls as the three demi-gods climbed the stairs that led to it. Merri was heavily panting as they ran up. The lack of sleep, the fatigue from her turning into her water form and traveling all the way to New York, the fight with Luke and the wounds she sustained were quickly sapping away any energy she had left. It took everything she had for her not to succumb into the blackness that was manifesting as dark spots in her vision. A roar heard from the inside managed to wake her up a bit and she heard silence fill the council room.

"WAIT!" Percy yelled waving the Bolt above his head as the trio came running into the council room. "Wait!" The trio came to screeching halt and Merri almost tumbled over her own two feet as her chucks skidded her foot or two on the marble floor.

She raised her eyes to see a humongous room made of marble, lit with torches that gave the stone a warm golden orange hue. Columns decorated every wall; in the centre of the room was a mechanical device with a sky map Merri guessed was some sort of a clock for the gods and eleven marble thrones were lined in a semi-circle separated into two halves by a much larger throne that overlooked the entire room. Eight of the thrones were occupied by the gods, the two closest to the large throne and the large throne itself were empty of their occupants who stood in front of the 'clock' arguing before they were interrupted by the trio's arrival. A throne farthest away from the grand one was also empty and there seemed to be no sign of its occupant. Merri guessed it was Hades' seat.

The three gods in the middle, two gods and a goddess, were, who Merri presumed, Zeus, Poseidon and Athena-their parents and uncle/grandfather. She guessed the one in the armour that looked suspiciously like fish scales was Poseidon- her and Percy's father- while the one with the white cape was Zeus. Her eyesight was getting seriously blurry, something she attributed to blood loss she was experiencing via the large nasty gash on her thigh and numerous cuts on her face and the unburned expanse of her arms, and she couldn't really differentiate the people standing in front of her based on looks. All she now had to guide her were their voices.

"My name is Percy Jackson," Percy introduced himself. Merri briefly wondered if he were still holding his sword out like he was expecting an attack when she felt an arm encircle her torso in an attempt of holding her upright and it was the feel of long hair on her cheek that told her it was Annabeth helping her. She would have to remember to thank her later, when she was more rested. "Think you might be looking for this."

Percy ran forward and Merri felt Annabeth wrap her hand around her upper arm, as not to touch her burns, and hastily guide her after her brother.

"Give me the Bolt, Lightning Thief," a deep voice said from a height in front of them. Through her blurry vision, Merri saw a humongous figure clad in golden armour and a white cape leaning over them with an outstretched hand. Zeus. Percy threw the Bolt to his uncle and, crackling through the air, it landed safely in Zeus' hand where it grew back to its regular size of being a giant. No wonder getting sizzled by it hurt so damn much!

Lightning streaked the outside dark sky. "You're wise to betray your father," Zeus told Percy. If there were a bit more strength in Merri's system, she would've lunged at Zeus, him being a god be damned, but with the exhausted state she was currently in, she settled for sending her uncle a murderous glare- or, what she presumed was his general direction, at least.

"I didn't steal it," Percy exclaimed. "And I've no connection to Poseidon. Neither does my sister," he added after a second. Suddenly Merri felt eleven gazes prickling on her bruised, burned and cut skin and she managed a small sheepish wave to the occupants of the room before letting her arm fall with a noticeable wince and a small groan of pain as she felt the skin on her arm being pulled from the motion.

"Then tell me," Zeus said returning his gaze to Percy. "If you didn't steal it, then who did?"

Merri noticed a small hesitation to Percy's answer and she gave him a small nod, encouraging him. "Luke... Son of Hermes." There was a short silence and rustling of clothes and Merri felt Annabeth placing a comforting hand on her unhurt left shoulder and giving it a small squeeze. "You see," Percy proceeded to explain. "He was angry at you. All of you. He wanted you to destroy yourselves." A longer pause ensued in which Merri felt like she would go mad. In situations like these, she couldn't stand the silence while she normally preferred it.

"You've done well," Zeus finally broke the silence. When he next spoke, his voice seemed farther away and Merri assumed he'd gone back to his throne. "Let there be peace." A sigh of relief tore itself from Merri's lips and she let a small smile grace her features before it fell. Her face still hurt like hell and her heart was faring no better from the betrayal she had experienced from the side of the person she trusted the most in this world. She felt Percy and Annabeth switch holding her upright and Merri let her head fall onto her brother's shoulder for support.

"Hi, mom," she heard Annabeth say to Athena. There was a hint of tears in her voice.

"Annabeth," the female voice answered. "I am so proud of you." It was a heart-warming moment, truly. Annabeth was speaking to her mother for the first time and it made Merri wish for Poseidon to say something instead of just stand where he was in silence. Hell, she wished she could look at him properly, for goodness sake, to see if her eye colour was the only thing she'd inherited from him.

"Zeus?! I've a good friend," Percy started. "He's a Satyr... named Grover. He's my protector, and the only reason Annabeth and I escaped the Underworld is because he stayed behind."

"And, now, you expect me to bring him back, "Zeus said, a hint of humour in his voice. It was that hint that urged Merri to speak up for the first time since they came here.

"If it's not too inconvenient. He may eat all my candy and soda cans but the goofy goat's kind of grown on me a little, too." She even managed a goofy smile of her own in Zeus' direction.

"Very well," was Zeus' answer. Percy breathed a sigh of relief. "I believe this assembly's business here is finished," Zeus said getting up. He made a move to leave but was stopped by Poseidon who seemed to have come back alive from his stoned demeanour from a moment ago.

"Brother, please. I need to speak with them," he pleaded.

"Just this once." With that, Zeus and the rest of the council left the room.

"I'll meet you two outside," Annabeth said and left as well.

Poseidon's large figure came kneeling in front of his two children. One was standing proud and defiant, with his arm wrapped around his older sister who was leaning heavily on him, her breathing slightly laboured and her still blue eyes looking at her father unfocused.

"I'm not expecting you to forgive me," Poseidon started and Merri recognized the voice as the one that warned her about the lotus flowers in Vegas. "But I want you to know that I am grateful."

She felt Percy's arm tighten a bit around her and she tried to suppress a wince and small groan of pain causing Percy to immediately loosen his grip a little. "I didn't do it for you," he said. "I did it for mom. Come on, Merri." He started leading her back in the direction of the door they came in through.

They had barely taken three steps with Merri's injured state, when they were stopped by their father. He'd turned himself into water and rematerialized in front of them in human size. "Please," he begged Percy. "We don't have much time. At least let me heal her." Percy was reluctant for a moment but he must've nodded because Merri suddenly felt two comforting cool hands take hold of her face and her hand. A cool sensation flooded her sense and she closed her eyes as she felt her wounds slowly heal. A feeling of pinching came over her as the gash on her thigh worked on mending itself together. It only lasted about half a minute before the feeling of the hands was list from her skin. Merri opened her sea-green eyes, her energy mostly restored, to look upon her father.

The man standing in front of her looked like an older version of Percy clad in dark green armour with dark ginger hair and a beard. There was a small tattoo of a trident done in dark sea-green ink on the side of his shoulder. Merri had to admit that she had one seriously handsome dad and finally found it believable how her mum had fallen for this guy. There was, also, finally an explanation behind the ginger colour of her own hair.

"How old was I when you left?" Percy asked. There was an angry look on his face, buried deep beneath actual curiosity. To be honest, Merri was curious too.

Poseidon didn't seem to be able to look his children in the eye and, so, opted for looking at his sandal clad feet. "Seven months," he answered before sneaking a glance at Merri and continuing. "You were seven months old. Merriall was six months old when I last saw her."

The siblings exchanged glances and there seemed to be an unspoken agreement that Percy would be the one doing the talking. With Merri, there was no knowing what could fly out of her uncontrollable trap. "Look, we didn't need you there all the time but... I would- We would've liked to have seen you just once," he corrected himself after realizing that Merri had been deprived of her real father even longer that he was and she was grateful for his words. It told her that he accepted the fact that they had the same father and it mean a lot to her.

"Why didn't you ever come back?" Merri spoke up for the second time.

"I wanted to," Poseidon admitted. Then, he proceeded to give Merri and apologetic look turning to Percy and she realized that the following reason would have nothing to do with her. "When I was with you and your mother, I became less concerned with my responsibilities." He gave a sad smile. "I was becoming human."

As Poseidon spoke, Merri hung her head. It stung that it was only her brother and his mother who were the reason her father wanted to come back to Earth. To her it seemed like Percy would always be his favourite and it hurt to know that he was only second-rate. She stuffed her healed hands into the pockets of her jeans to keep them from trembling to keep them from shaking and blinked back tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes and down her newly healed face.

"And that's a bad thing?" Percy asked.

Poseidon scoffed. "For a god? Zeus thinks so. That's why he passed the law that forbid the gods from ever contacting with their children." Of course, this was something Meri knew from having eavesdropped on Chiron and Mr. D but it was still new information to Percy.

"That was because of you?" Poseidon nodded with a guilty look.

"But I was always watching over you," he said. Poseidon looked at Merri and added: "Both of you. Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean I wasn't there. When you were in trouble, I tried to help."

"I heard you," Percy said with a small nod.

Merri raised her gaze with a sad smile. "Me too," she admitted. "In the hotel in Vegas. And before, with the Fury."

Poseidon sighed and took a few steps closer to the siblings. "I know I wasn't the father you've always wanted but if you ever need me, I'll be there for you. In your thoughts and dreams." Merri returned the smile he sent them with a small nod and a smile of her own. "I'll stand by you two, always." He offered Percy his hand, which Percy still reluctantly accepted, and gave him a firm handshake.

Without another word, Percy turned on his heel and left Merri with Poseidon but not before giving her a fleeting look that said he would be waiting for her outside to say her goodbyes. Merri gave him a nod and turned back to her father.

"I want you to know that I'm really sorry for leaving you and your mother," Poseidon started with a remorseful look. "It was never my intention to hurt either of you."

Merri stopped him with a raise of her hand. She gave him an understanding look. "You fell in love with someone else, I understand that. It's... not something any of us have control over, so... I can't really blame you for it."

"I would've been there for you too if I were able to."

She nodded. "I know. And I'm thankful for it. It really means a lot, you know."

They stood there in silence for a moment, neither saying a word, before Poseidon spoke with a fond smile. "You look a lot like your mother.

"Thanks," she said with a real smile.

"How is Jane? You two still live in Australia?" Poseidon asked her with a look of true curiosity. He may not have loved her mum like he did Percy's, but he still cared about her.

"Mum's great. She got married to an American when I was four so we moved. We live in Seattle now. She's happy and she's had two more kids, so I have another brother and a sister."

Poseidon looked back at his feet and said in a small voice: "Good. That's good."

Merri smiled and tried to catch his eye. "Mum said that if I ever came across you again I tell you that you're welcome to visit us anytime you want. She says you're welcome to come whenever you want." She crossed the small distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, surprising him completely. For a moment he didn't seem to know what to do but he must've come around because, not long after, she felt him wrap his arms around her smaller form. "It would really mean a lot if you could come to my Christmas recital. I know Mum would be glad to see you too," she softly said as she let go of him and took a small step back. "I'll understand if you don't but I'd be really glad to see you there."

Without looking in her father's face for an answer, Merri stuffed her hands back in her pockets and walked towards the exit. Just before she was at the door, she heard Poseidon call after her: "What kind of recital?"

Smiling, she looked over her shoulder. "Figure-skating, of course." Then she left the room and went to find Percy and Annabeth.

...

It's been seven months since the Summer Solstice, since Percy returned the Bolt to Zeus, since Merri finally spoke to her father for the first time, since... since she learned about her best friend's betrayal. It still hurt, deeply so. It stung worse than any burn, pained her more than any cut, gash or broken bone. It just... hurt. A lot.

She was sitting at a table of some random Boston café sipping at the cup of black coffee. Her hand unconsciously rubbed her thigh where the gash used to be before Poseidon healed it. Still, a nasty scar that was about two inches wide and went down the length of her thigh remained. It itched from time to time, though.

She was sporting a white button down shirt she tucked into her dark skinny jeans and black boots with her ever-present Celestial Bronze bracelet. Her hair fell down her back in streaked ginger waves, some strands spreading over her shoulders as she slouched over an 800 page text book on human anatomy. There was an exam she had in two days and she was cramming for it as much as she could. She needed to own this exam if she were to get the other, richer and snobbier, students to get off her case.

"Think I'm starting to have regrets for not going to Julliard," she sighed to herself while rubbing at her eyes with one hand and taking a sip of her coffee with the other. Normally, she would be in her apartment, barricaded from the rest of the world but after being in there for two days straight, she had to get herself some fresh air, hence, her studying at the coffee place.

The moment she and Percy came back to the Camp day after the Solstice- Percy's mum gave them a lift- a bright sea-green trident started glowing above her head. At first, she had no idea what was going on and why everyone was staring at her. But then, Chiron started talking and it dawned on her. She was claimed! She was just claimed by Poseidon! It was hard to say who was more shocked: she, Chiron or the other campers. But, they got over it in the course of a few days. Of course, Merri being antisocial and avoiding whatever form of human contact from the other campers helped in getting the others to back off faster.

All she had to do was get through the summer that turned out to be quite uneventful. Well, save for Grover getting his horns, Percy breaking his leg which Merri healed within an hour of it happening. During the summer, Merri managed to work on her German and even wrote a song in the language and wrote the music that accompanied it using her guitar. She survived another Rafter Family Gathering and the cca. 150 members of the Rafter clan, reconnected with her cousin Andrew who lived in Belfast and yet spoke with stronger Aussie accent than she did- and he was born there!

Sneaking a glance at the clock, Merri slammed her book, shoved it into her bag, downed her coffee and ran out in the direction of the campus like she was being chased by Hellhounds. If she didn't hurry up, she would be late for class

THE END

The is officially the end of this fanfic. Thank you for sticking up with me to the end. There won't be a sequel... Sorry, but there was no good response from the audience...


	12. Um, ( ' ' ) Hi!

Hey guys, it's been quite a while. Anyhow, thx a lot DysfunctionalInsanity and she got off the plane, but if you guys want, I can post a sequel! You guys supported me by following and favorating it. :-)

Yours truly,

Nobody knows pj better than me!

(Pretty long and weird name I know)


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